Toby Jenkins, the oldest surviving member of her family, has opened a summer residence program in the Nebraska Sandhills for the wounded and broken, misfits and dreamers. Besides her guests—a minister on sabbatical and a woman recovering from cancer treatment—Toby is joined by Anita and Luís, her hired help; Anita’s brother Gabe; and someone Toby least expected, her nearly estranged daughter, Nola Jean. Mother-daughter tensions, age-old prejudices, and generational divides challenge the members of this disparate community as they bump up against each other. Parallel conflicts occur against the backdrop of a changing rural landscape where history clashes with evolving mores.
In this thoughtful and moving novel Pamela Carter Joern probes the complications of family relationships, identity, belonging, and the impact of long-held secrets.
Genre: Literary Fiction
In this thoughtful and moving novel Pamela Carter Joern probes the complications of family relationships, identity, belonging, and the impact of long-held secrets.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"This is a kindhearted, humorous, and graceful novel full of secrets, regrets, and redemptions. I immediately related to the drama of this beautifully drawn book about an eclectic cast of characters during a summer on the prairie and Sandhills of western Nebraska. Pamela Carter Joern writes about the Great Plains with the authority of a biologist and the passion of a poet." - Nickolas Butler
"Pamela Carter Joern understands the flinty women of western Nebraska like few other writers. Toby's Last Resort is a beautiful, funny, and wrenching story that explores the love of land accompanied by a desire for independence and privacy. I loved this novel." - Maureen Millea Smith
"Pamela Carter Joern understands the flinty women of western Nebraska like few other writers. Toby's Last Resort is a beautiful, funny, and wrenching story that explores the love of land accompanied by a desire for independence and privacy. I loved this novel." - Maureen Millea Smith
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