Prairie Nocturne : A Novel

Teaching voice lessons to the privileged members of society during the height of the Harlem Renaissance, Susan Duff is hired by a man who once harbored political ambitions to teach his African-American chauffeur how to sing and perform.

From one of the greatest novelists of the American West comes a surprising and riveting story set in Montana and New York during the Harlem Renaissance, drawing together an unlikely set of thwarted performers in one last inspired grasp at life''s set of gold rings: love and renown.

Susan Duff—the bossy, indomitable schoolgirl with a silver voice from the pages of Doig''s most popular work, Dancing at the Rascal Fair—has reached middle age alone, teaching voice lessons to the progeny of Helena''s high society. Wesley Williamson—business scion of a cattle-empire family—has fallen from the heights of gubernatorial aspirations, forced out of a public career by political foes who uncovered his love affair with Susan. Years later, Wes and Susan have reunited to share in an extraordinary goal: launching the singing career of Monty Rathbun—a man on the wrong side of the racial divide. In this triumph of sure-footed storytelling, motives and fates dangerously entangle.

Set in Montana, France, Scotland, and New York during the Harlem Renaissance, Prairie Nocturne is a deeply longitudinal novel that raises everlasting questions of allegiance, the grip of the past, and the costs of career and passion.