The curiosities
(Book)

P.S. insights, interviews & more.

Nell Parker has a Ph.D. in art history, a loving husband named Josh, and a bungalow in Madison, Wisconsin. But Nell's last pregnancy ended in the second trimester, and her husband encourages her to apply for jobs rather than pause to grieve, believing she needs something to focus on other than the baby that may never be. Finding a job turns out to be difficult for an art historianuntil Nell sees the ad seeking a director for a new nonprofit called the Mansion Hill Artists' Colony, founded by the late, unconventional society dame Betsy Barrett. The executor of Betsy's estate simply hands Nell the house keys and wishes her luck. Diving into the new role, Nell discovers that recruiting artists to fill the three residency slots is easy, but managing their eccentric personalities is not. There's Odin, a young metal sculptor, who keeps the other residents awake with his late-night welding projects, and Annie, a dreadlocked granny known for her gritty photography, who Nell is almost certain is dealing pot out of the basement "studio". And then there's Paige, an art student from the university who is experimenting with new printing techniques as well as a string of bad boyfriends. Despite all the drama, Nell finds something akin to a family among the members of the creative community. And when her attraction to Odin begins to heat up, Nell must decide what will bring her greater joythe artsy, inspired world she's created, or the familiar but increasingly fragile reality of her marriage.