Excerpt – The Utterly Unacceptable Atrocity of Isabelle Marsden by Nan Sanders Pokerwinski
Synopsis
All Isabelle (Belle) Marsden wants when she moves to Kansas is a place to retreat and heal from an ugly #MeToo experience. But a chance encounter with a free-spirited artist draws her into a community of colorful characters who soon have her lobbying to rescue their Summer Solstice parade, conducting surveillance at a roadside zoo, and paying visits to an outsider artist’s sculpture garden (S.P. Dinsmoor’s Garden of Eden in Lucas, Kansas). Inspired by Dinsmoor’s mad creativity, Belle begins building her own peculiar assemblage. As she uncovers her hidden creativity—and madness—her strange creation lands her in trouble with her landlady, the city zoning department, and even the police. Ultimately, her path to balance relies on help from that crew of characters who might themselves be called crazy—and on her newly redefined self.
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Excerpt
Except for the two women’s voices and the shush of feet on the wooden floor and occasional murmurs of appreciation from other quilt-show goers, few sounds circulated through the church activity-room-turned-gallery. Color was the predominant sensory stimulus. Not on Belle, of course. She wore the usual: jeans and a tank top the same shade of gray as her eyes. The woman beside her was a different story, dressed in Southwestern shades of turquoise, terracotta, and gold, and sporting a crocheted, Rastafarian-style hat that barely contained her fuzzy mane. Around the room, quilts in Sunburst, Log Cabin, Flying Geese, and the ubiquitous Sunbonnet Sue designs hung hem-to-hem with splashy abstracts.
“Mmmmmm, this one’s unusual,” Belle said aloud, to fill the awkward pause. “Seems unconventional. Don’t quite know what to make of it.”
The other woman laughed, a trill. “Neither do I,” she said. “And I made it.” Then, cutting her cat-eyes toward Belle, added, “I’m Reba. And if you ask me if I like country music, you’ll be automatically disqualified from new best friend status.”
Belle hesitated, pinching her lower lip between her teeth, then reached out to shake Reba’s extended hand. “I’m Isabelle . . . but you can call me Belle. Nice to meet you, Re—Whoa! What the devil . . . ?”
“Oh, how rude of me.” Reba turned face-on, revealing a denim sling around her shoulders—the kind made for carrying babies—from which protruded a doglike snout, two furry ears, and a pair of
feet that looked like oversized clown versions of a rabbit’s feet. “Meet Wallace. He’s a wallaby. Or wallababy, if you will. We were just heading home for iced tea. You could come along.”
About the Author
Nan Sanders Pokerwinski is a former journalist who has appreciated unconventional art and eccentric people all her life. Her blog Heartwood celebrates creativity, connection, and contentment. A daughter of the Heartland who grew up in Oklahoma and lived in Kansas, she spent one pivotal year on a tropical island, chronicled in her memoir Mango Rash: Coming of Age in the Land of Frangipani and Fanta (Behler Publications, 2019). Nan now writes from Newaygo, Michigan.
