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Two Medicine Country #6
Prairie Nocturne
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. By the author of Dancing at the Rascal Fair. 60,000 first printing.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
62 people are currently reading
608 people want to read
About the author
Ivan Doig
39 books790 followersIvan Doig was born in White Sulphur Springs, Montana to a family of homesteaders and ranch hands. After the death of his mother Berneta, on his sixth birthday, he was raised by his father Charles "Charlie" Doig and his grandmother Elizabeth "Bessie" Ringer. After several stints on ranches, they moved to Dupuyer, Pondera County, Montana in the north to herd sheep close to the Rocky Mountain Front.
After his graduation from Valier high school, Doig attended Northwestern University, where he received a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in journalism. He later earned a Ph.D. in American history at the University of Washington, writing his dissertation about John J. McGilvra (1827-1903). He lived with his wife Carol Doig, née Muller, a university professor of English, in Seattle, Washington.
Before Ivan Doig became a novelist, he wrote for newspapers and magazines as a free-lancer and worked for the United States Forest Service.
Much of his fiction is set in the Montana country of his youth. His major theme is family life in the past, mixing personal memory and regional history. As the western landscape and people play an important role in his fiction, he has been hailed as the new dean of western literature, a worthy successor to Wallace Stegner.
Bibliography
His works includes both fictional and non-fictional writings. They can be divided into four groups:
Early Works
News: A Consumer's Guide (1972) - a media textbook coauthored by Carol Doig
Streets We Have Come Down: Literature of the City (1975) - an anthology edited by Ivan Doig
Utopian America: Dreams and Realities (1976) - an anthology edited by Ivan Doig
Autobiographical Books
This House of Sky: Landscapes of a Western Mind (1979) - memoirs based on the author's life with his father and grandmother (nominated for National Book Award)
Heart Earth (1993) - memoirs based on his mother's letters to her brother Wally
Regional Works
Winter Brothers: A Season at the Edge of America (1980) - an essayistic dialog with James G. Swan
The Sea Runners (1982) - an adventure novel about four Swedes escaping from New Archangel, today's Sitka, Alaska
Historical Novels
English Creek (1984)
Dancing at the Rascal Fair (1987)
Ride with Me, Mariah Montana (1990)
Bucking the Sun: A Novel (1996)
Mountain Time: A Novel (1999)
Prairie Nocturne: A Novel (2003)
The Whistling Season: A Novel (2006)
The Eleventh Man: A Novel (2008)
The first three Montana novels form the so-called McCaskill trilogy, covering the first centennial of Montana's statehood from 1889 to 1989.
from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Doig"
After his graduation from Valier high school, Doig attended Northwestern University, where he received a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in journalism. He later earned a Ph.D. in American history at the University of Washington, writing his dissertation about John J. McGilvra (1827-1903). He lived with his wife Carol Doig, née Muller, a university professor of English, in Seattle, Washington.
Before Ivan Doig became a novelist, he wrote for newspapers and magazines as a free-lancer and worked for the United States Forest Service.
Much of his fiction is set in the Montana country of his youth. His major theme is family life in the past, mixing personal memory and regional history. As the western landscape and people play an important role in his fiction, he has been hailed as the new dean of western literature, a worthy successor to Wallace Stegner.
Bibliography
His works includes both fictional and non-fictional writings. They can be divided into four groups:
Early Works
News: A Consumer's Guide (1972) - a media textbook coauthored by Carol Doig
Streets We Have Come Down: Literature of the City (1975) - an anthology edited by Ivan Doig
Utopian America: Dreams and Realities (1976) - an anthology edited by Ivan Doig
Autobiographical Books
This House of Sky: Landscapes of a Western Mind (1979) - memoirs based on the author's life with his father and grandmother (nominated for National Book Award)
Heart Earth (1993) - memoirs based on his mother's letters to her brother Wally
Regional Works
Winter Brothers: A Season at the Edge of America (1980) - an essayistic dialog with James G. Swan
The Sea Runners (1982) - an adventure novel about four Swedes escaping from New Archangel, today's Sitka, Alaska
Historical Novels
English Creek (1984)
Dancing at the Rascal Fair (1987)
Ride with Me, Mariah Montana (1990)
Bucking the Sun: A Novel (1996)
Mountain Time: A Novel (1999)
Prairie Nocturne: A Novel (2003)
The Whistling Season: A Novel (2006)
The Eleventh Man: A Novel (2008)
The first three Montana novels form the so-called McCaskill trilogy, covering the first centennial of Montana's statehood from 1889 to 1989.
from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Doig"
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February 10, 2022
Feb 7, 845pm ~~ Review asap. Incredible book, want to savor it a bit.
Feb 10, 210pm ~~ I am catching up this year with the stack of Ivan Doig's titles I have had for a couple of years. After Mountain Time, which was a surprise DNF for me, I was hoping for better from Prairie Nocturne and I certainly got it.
With this 2003 book Doig returned to familiar country and characters that had roles in some of his earlier work. I think a person could read this book without having first read Doig's Montana Trilogy, but it certainly helped me to be familiar with some of the names of characters and know a little of their history going into this book.
In 1924, Susan Duff, who grew up on a homestead in the Scotch Heaven homestead area of Montana, lives in Helena giving singing lessons to young society ladies. One night after her final pupil of the day, Susan climbs to the upper level of her house to work on two projects: a half-finished operetta based on the woman's suffragist movement in Montana, and her diary.
But someone interrupts her solitude. Someone who has opened the front door of her house with a key and is climbing the steps to her work room. Who is it? Wes Williamson, son of the man who wanted Susan's father's land for her entire life, not to mention every other piece of land in the territory. What is he doing there? With his own key?! Why didn't she change the locks back when their secret affair ended?!
But Wes is not in the house to try and re-ignite a relationship (at least not right at first). He says he has 'the pupil of a lifetime' for her. But who could it be? Not one of his daughters, surely? Susan is very suspicious, especially after hearing that part of Wes's plan is for Susan to live at her old homestead and teach this mysterious pupil there. Why the need for extreme privacy, even secrecy? What exactly is going on here?
Well, it turns out that the pupil Wes has for Susan is Montgomery (Monty) Rathbun, longtime 'choreboy' of the Double W, the Williamson family empire. Whenever Wes visits Montana from his home in New York, Monty acts as his chauffeur. Monty has lived at the Double W since he was a boy, when his father got a cowboy job there after retiring from the Army. Monty's mother did the ranch laundry and Monty has been there ever since, it is the only home he remembers, except for flashes of memories of the cavalry fort where his father had been posted. Monty has had about the best life he could expect for a Black man in his circumstance in those days.
And now Wes wants to Monty to give him voice lessons. Why?
Right off the bat, you know that certain things are going to happen, and they mostly do. But you also hope like all heck that certain other things might happen. Do they? Is there courage enough in the people involved to follow the road ahead of them? Or will Society and its foolishness create more obstacles than anyone can conquer?
And again, why does Wes care so much about this project of his all of a sudden? Does he just want to get Susan back into his life? Or is there some other dark secret from the past driving him?
I thought this book was stunning and unforgettable. I highly recommend it.
Feb 10, 210pm ~~ I am catching up this year with the stack of Ivan Doig's titles I have had for a couple of years. After Mountain Time, which was a surprise DNF for me, I was hoping for better from Prairie Nocturne and I certainly got it.
With this 2003 book Doig returned to familiar country and characters that had roles in some of his earlier work. I think a person could read this book without having first read Doig's Montana Trilogy, but it certainly helped me to be familiar with some of the names of characters and know a little of their history going into this book.
In 1924, Susan Duff, who grew up on a homestead in the Scotch Heaven homestead area of Montana, lives in Helena giving singing lessons to young society ladies. One night after her final pupil of the day, Susan climbs to the upper level of her house to work on two projects: a half-finished operetta based on the woman's suffragist movement in Montana, and her diary.
But someone interrupts her solitude. Someone who has opened the front door of her house with a key and is climbing the steps to her work room. Who is it? Wes Williamson, son of the man who wanted Susan's father's land for her entire life, not to mention every other piece of land in the territory. What is he doing there? With his own key?! Why didn't she change the locks back when their secret affair ended?!
But Wes is not in the house to try and re-ignite a relationship (at least not right at first). He says he has 'the pupil of a lifetime' for her. But who could it be? Not one of his daughters, surely? Susan is very suspicious, especially after hearing that part of Wes's plan is for Susan to live at her old homestead and teach this mysterious pupil there. Why the need for extreme privacy, even secrecy? What exactly is going on here?
Well, it turns out that the pupil Wes has for Susan is Montgomery (Monty) Rathbun, longtime 'choreboy' of the Double W, the Williamson family empire. Whenever Wes visits Montana from his home in New York, Monty acts as his chauffeur. Monty has lived at the Double W since he was a boy, when his father got a cowboy job there after retiring from the Army. Monty's mother did the ranch laundry and Monty has been there ever since, it is the only home he remembers, except for flashes of memories of the cavalry fort where his father had been posted. Monty has had about the best life he could expect for a Black man in his circumstance in those days.
And now Wes wants to Monty to give him voice lessons. Why?
Right off the bat, you know that certain things are going to happen, and they mostly do. But you also hope like all heck that certain other things might happen. Do they? Is there courage enough in the people involved to follow the road ahead of them? Or will Society and its foolishness create more obstacles than anyone can conquer?
And again, why does Wes care so much about this project of his all of a sudden? Does he just want to get Susan back into his life? Or is there some other dark secret from the past driving him?
I thought this book was stunning and unforgettable. I highly recommend it.
December 27, 2023
I'm sad to say that despite some lovely writing this story dragged in places. Narrator Scott Sowers does a great job of singing when necessary, which I enjoyed.
Standout quotes:
"he has a tongue on him like a longbox wagon" meaning someone who says the first thing that comes into his head without thinking first and goes on talking without realizing the effect his words have on others.
"whenever a man met confusion in this life it almost always wears a dress" - just leaving this here, a bit tongue-in-cheek like.
"her fingers racing all over the piano keys - but everything new that kept coming into it tiptoed back to meet the main tune. Then off a wonderful trickle of music would go again, eventually to shy back to the melody."
"Where the heat wave haze over the city for days on end. A gauzy coverlet on top of the blanket of humidity."
"The high and folding land to the west was starting to take he color of dusk. He watched in particular the shift of light on the business part of the continental rise, the grassy ridges under the rock faces, the precious green skirts of the mountains."
Standout quotes:
"he has a tongue on him like a longbox wagon" meaning someone who says the first thing that comes into his head without thinking first and goes on talking without realizing the effect his words have on others.
"whenever a man met confusion in this life it almost always wears a dress" - just leaving this here, a bit tongue-in-cheek like.
"her fingers racing all over the piano keys - but everything new that kept coming into it tiptoed back to meet the main tune. Then off a wonderful trickle of music would go again, eventually to shy back to the melody."
"Where the heat wave haze over the city for days on end. A gauzy coverlet on top of the blanket of humidity."
"The high and folding land to the west was starting to take he color of dusk. He watched in particular the shift of light on the business part of the continental rise, the grassy ridges under the rock faces, the precious green skirts of the mountains."
April 16, 2012
The full significance of this novel's evocative title does not become clear until the very closing pages, and that's fitting for a melodrama-historical-romance that holds its cards very close to the chest right up to each turn of the plot. There are in fact several narratives and themes that weave in and around each other, and Doig is careful to balance them artfully so that each new development has an element of the unexpected for the reader.
The texture of Doig's narrative style is richly detailed, like tapestry. His characters and the exchanges between them spring strongly to life. You do not speed read for the plot but linger over the nuances of behavior, gesture, verbal inflection, thought, and feeling. Meanwhile, a compelling story is told of a black ranch hand and rodeo clown who is transformed under the guiding hand of a white voice teacher to become a rising star in the music world.
Set in the 1920s, the story also portrays the social forces and prejudices that intrude on their growing relationship. And the reader learns how the KKK reached as far west as Montana with its use of secrecy and intimidation to enforce a code of racial and ethnic discrimination. Just as ugly, though not resorting to hoods and sheets, are those at the very highest social rungs who have their part to play in enforcing racial divisions.
Set primarily in Montana, the book needs to look back only a generation to the immigrant homesteaders of the 1880s, the cavalry posts on the plains, the rise of the cattle barons, and the subduing of the Native Americans. Meanwhile, the trenches of WWI inhabit recent memory. The book captures the breadth of American life from the closing frontier on the one hand to jazz-age New York and the Harlem Renaissance on the other.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in the historical West, relationships between strongly independent characters, the African-American experience, singing and voice training, and a richly textured, multi-layered style of storytelling. Doig is a master.
The texture of Doig's narrative style is richly detailed, like tapestry. His characters and the exchanges between them spring strongly to life. You do not speed read for the plot but linger over the nuances of behavior, gesture, verbal inflection, thought, and feeling. Meanwhile, a compelling story is told of a black ranch hand and rodeo clown who is transformed under the guiding hand of a white voice teacher to become a rising star in the music world.
Set in the 1920s, the story also portrays the social forces and prejudices that intrude on their growing relationship. And the reader learns how the KKK reached as far west as Montana with its use of secrecy and intimidation to enforce a code of racial and ethnic discrimination. Just as ugly, though not resorting to hoods and sheets, are those at the very highest social rungs who have their part to play in enforcing racial divisions.
Set primarily in Montana, the book needs to look back only a generation to the immigrant homesteaders of the 1880s, the cavalry posts on the plains, the rise of the cattle barons, and the subduing of the Native Americans. Meanwhile, the trenches of WWI inhabit recent memory. The book captures the breadth of American life from the closing frontier on the one hand to jazz-age New York and the Harlem Renaissance on the other.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in the historical West, relationships between strongly independent characters, the African-American experience, singing and voice training, and a richly textured, multi-layered style of storytelling. Doig is a master.
May 5, 2021
In Prairie Nocturne, Ivan Doig once again presents a host of authentic, memorable, three-dimensional characters who will remain with readers long after they get to the end of this long-ish novel. Readers have encountered many of the characters before in Doig’s impressive sequence of a dozen-or-so Montana novels, including two of the three main players this time around—music teacher and vocal coach Susan Duff, and wealthy rancher and land owner Wes Williamson. Making his first appearance, however, is Monty Rathbun, African-American chauffeur to Wes.
The central plot concerns the discovery of Monty’s singing voice and the persuasion of Susan by Wes to take on the development and shaping of Monty’s vocal abilities such that he can perform professionally. Doig does a convincing job of describing all the tricks of the trade voice coaches might use to discipline and fine-tune a rough and untrained voice, hitherto only used to singing songs his mother taught him. Susan is relentless in her voice training exercises and practice sessions, and Monty eventually entrusts his faith in the teacher and her unorthodox teaching methods.
Monty’s transition from chauffeur to a singer on radio and on stage is actually his second self-reinvention. His first was going from rodeo entertainer—which involved hiding in a barrel that is being gored by a raging bull—to chauffeur. But this is 1920s America, the era of extreme racial prejudice, and the Ku Klux Klan has even made it all the way to the vast, sparsely-populated state of Montana. Naturally, the KKK does not approve of the combination of a white teacher tutoring an African-American adult male—the voice lessons can only be a clever artifice for more wicked and forbidden mischief.
A successful attack on Monty damages his voice and jeopardizes all his hard-won fame and celebrity as a singer. What and how he sang before is no longer possible with his new limited voice range. Once again, Susan is called in to work her magic in rehabilitating his voice. This time, she enables Monty to reinvent not himself, but his musical repertoire, creatively adjusting the song selection to suit his voice. Monty is a rising star once more, eventually heading for Carnegie Hall and a European tour.
The novel’s romance, not surprisingly, is the second-time-around, torrid love affair between Susan and Wes. They had parted years earlier after their affair compromised Wes’s political career, leaving Susan still single and Wes in an unsatisfactory marriage. However, boundary-pushing Doig, with the utmost subtlety, teases readers with the possibility of feelings developing between Susan and Monty. Well-intentioned, taboo-panicked friends caution them both, and the relationship becomes a surprising revelation to Wes.
The poignant resolution of this love triangle is masterfully done. In the skilled and sure hands of a writer such as Ivan Doing, readers’ emotions will be tugged and stretched to breaking point. While the breathtaking ending may surprise some, it will disappoint none. Despite the venture into New York, Prairie Nocturne is still vintage Doig writing about his beloved state of Montana. As in all his other novels, the earthy and atmospheric descriptions of the land and its unique people will have enduring effects on readers’ senses. Ivan Doig’s fiction (and nonfiction) is the most satisfying and entertaining way of learning about America’s west.
The central plot concerns the discovery of Monty’s singing voice and the persuasion of Susan by Wes to take on the development and shaping of Monty’s vocal abilities such that he can perform professionally. Doig does a convincing job of describing all the tricks of the trade voice coaches might use to discipline and fine-tune a rough and untrained voice, hitherto only used to singing songs his mother taught him. Susan is relentless in her voice training exercises and practice sessions, and Monty eventually entrusts his faith in the teacher and her unorthodox teaching methods.
Monty’s transition from chauffeur to a singer on radio and on stage is actually his second self-reinvention. His first was going from rodeo entertainer—which involved hiding in a barrel that is being gored by a raging bull—to chauffeur. But this is 1920s America, the era of extreme racial prejudice, and the Ku Klux Klan has even made it all the way to the vast, sparsely-populated state of Montana. Naturally, the KKK does not approve of the combination of a white teacher tutoring an African-American adult male—the voice lessons can only be a clever artifice for more wicked and forbidden mischief.
A successful attack on Monty damages his voice and jeopardizes all his hard-won fame and celebrity as a singer. What and how he sang before is no longer possible with his new limited voice range. Once again, Susan is called in to work her magic in rehabilitating his voice. This time, she enables Monty to reinvent not himself, but his musical repertoire, creatively adjusting the song selection to suit his voice. Monty is a rising star once more, eventually heading for Carnegie Hall and a European tour.
The novel’s romance, not surprisingly, is the second-time-around, torrid love affair between Susan and Wes. They had parted years earlier after their affair compromised Wes’s political career, leaving Susan still single and Wes in an unsatisfactory marriage. However, boundary-pushing Doig, with the utmost subtlety, teases readers with the possibility of feelings developing between Susan and Monty. Well-intentioned, taboo-panicked friends caution them both, and the relationship becomes a surprising revelation to Wes.
The poignant resolution of this love triangle is masterfully done. In the skilled and sure hands of a writer such as Ivan Doing, readers’ emotions will be tugged and stretched to breaking point. While the breathtaking ending may surprise some, it will disappoint none. Despite the venture into New York, Prairie Nocturne is still vintage Doig writing about his beloved state of Montana. As in all his other novels, the earthy and atmospheric descriptions of the land and its unique people will have enduring effects on readers’ senses. Ivan Doig’s fiction (and nonfiction) is the most satisfying and entertaining way of learning about America’s west.
March 16, 2014
Maybe enjoying Whistling Season so much set a high bar in my expectations for this author but I just could not get into this - the characters, the story line, the writing. None measured up and though I hate to quit on a book I also find that I am more demanding and more particular about how I spend my time these days. I don't feel obligated to finish a book as I used to. I've given this one a good chance in hopes that it will redeem itself but it wasn't' happening by page 100.
The awkward sentences were a hiccup that caused me to go back and read them again:
"Susan that night thought long and hard about the populace of solitude." The writing seemed contrived - an attempt to write 'differently' and it just didn't flow.
The awkward sentences were a hiccup that caused me to go back and read them again:
"Susan that night thought long and hard about the populace of solitude." The writing seemed contrived - an attempt to write 'differently' and it just didn't flow.
April 28, 2014
Not the usual kind of stuff I love from Doig, but, except for a few places where it seemed to drag, his usual excellent prose and interesting characters made for great read. Much more relationship oriented than usual, and touching on some very controversial (for its day) subjects. Published in 2010, it shows how far we've come, and how much further we need to go.
August 9, 2022
This one had a setup/secret that made it hard to put the book down. While the secret was a little anticlimactic, he did a good job dragging us along and the conflict created in the characters - 3 great ones.
Monty the black cowhand trying his hand at singing late in life. 1920’s Montana, not great for black man.
Susan- sassy Scottish daughter of homesteader in Montana, Talented musician and teacher. Having affair with local cattle baron (Catholic).
Wes - war hero and politician setup for governorship except for the pesky affair with the music teacher.
He’s a great storyteller, I’d have liked him to navigate the Protestant/Catholic issues a little more deeply but don’t think that interests Ivan.
Another great piece of the English Creek puzzle.
Monty the black cowhand trying his hand at singing late in life. 1920’s Montana, not great for black man.
Susan- sassy Scottish daughter of homesteader in Montana, Talented musician and teacher. Having affair with local cattle baron (Catholic).
Wes - war hero and politician setup for governorship except for the pesky affair with the music teacher.
He’s a great storyteller, I’d have liked him to navigate the Protestant/Catholic issues a little more deeply but don’t think that interests Ivan.
Another great piece of the English Creek puzzle.
June 14, 2014
My goodreads friend, Carl recommended this one and while he and I usually agree, I can't go along with this one. But looking at these reviews here, everyone seems to love it. The story is set in Montana in 1924, so it's an interesting setting. Here's my problem: this is a very nice story about a wealthy rancher who hires his former girlfriend to teach his black chauffeur to sing. The black chauffeur has a great voice and is a strong character. The girlfriend is a great teacher and a strong woman who is also lovely and very advanced in her thinking. The rancher is a really nice guy who can neither get a divorce from his wife, nor completely give up the music teacher girlfriend and there are many passionate scenes as well as flashbacks of their sexual trysts in the past.
The music teacher and chauffeur work together for a couple years despite threats and assaults by the KKK and injuries and accidents till the chauffeur has a successful singing career. Then in the last 50 pages of the book, it turns out that the chauffeur-singer is in love with the music teacher and she in turn suddenly can't live without him either. I am all in favor of a surprise ending, but what-the-hell?!?! I was watching for signs of attraction of course because that would have been the obvious, but neither of them showed any interest in the other in a romantic way till the end. And the reader was privy to the characters' innermost thoughts, as well as the woman's diary. Therefore, this unexpected plot development was as if some early reader had asked the author to end the book differently and the lazy author, instead of revising the original book, decided to tack on this ending. It was kind of insulting.
The music teacher and chauffeur work together for a couple years despite threats and assaults by the KKK and injuries and accidents till the chauffeur has a successful singing career. Then in the last 50 pages of the book, it turns out that the chauffeur-singer is in love with the music teacher and she in turn suddenly can't live without him either. I am all in favor of a surprise ending, but what-the-hell?!?! I was watching for signs of attraction of course because that would have been the obvious, but neither of them showed any interest in the other in a romantic way till the end. And the reader was privy to the characters' innermost thoughts, as well as the woman's diary. Therefore, this unexpected plot development was as if some early reader had asked the author to end the book differently and the lazy author, instead of revising the original book, decided to tack on this ending. It was kind of insulting.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 7, 2020
Prairie Nocturne is part of the Doig's series that includes characters Wes Williamson and Susan Duff. Most of the novel takes place in 1924. Wes comes from a wealthy family and Susan's family had property near his family's. Susan has a beautiful voice but does not perform, instead, she gives voice lessons. One night Wes visits Susan to ask her to teach one of his black ranch hands, Montgomery (Monty) Rathburn. Monty's voice is extraordinary, but needs some training and guidance. Lessons begin. There is always the question as to why Wes wants this favor (it's a favor, though he does pay for the lessons) from Susan and how will this affect their relationship. Wes is married and "carries on" with Susan. There is much played out in Prairie Nocturne's pages including the presence of the KKK in Montana and the struggle of Susan and Monty's teacher/student relationship and the perception of the resident KKK members. The last 75 pages are some of the best of the entire novel.
Ivan Doig will always be one of my favorite writers. Prairie Nocturne will not be one of my favorite of his books. Set in Montana for the majority of the novel, Doig gives the reader vivid descriptions filled with detail, color and extraordinary writing. However, the middle section of the book dragged with endless pages of the voice lessons that could have easily been condensed. In my opinion, these pages did nothing to move along the story, the character development or the development of the characters' interaction. It's okay to skip this book in the series in favor of English Creek and Dancing at the Rascal Fair. Don't forget Mountain Time - still my favorite and my first, Ivan Doig novel.
Ivan Doig will always be one of my favorite writers. Prairie Nocturne will not be one of my favorite of his books. Set in Montana for the majority of the novel, Doig gives the reader vivid descriptions filled with detail, color and extraordinary writing. However, the middle section of the book dragged with endless pages of the voice lessons that could have easily been condensed. In my opinion, these pages did nothing to move along the story, the character development or the development of the characters' interaction. It's okay to skip this book in the series in favor of English Creek and Dancing at the Rascal Fair. Don't forget Mountain Time - still my favorite and my first, Ivan Doig novel.
April 27, 2022
At least in my life, Doig's writing seems always to run alongside my own puzzlings over what's currently going on in my world. Here we have a meditation on love and color -- that an advantaged whitey like myself or, for that matter, our protagonist Susan, cannot even begin to imagine what it's like to live inside dark skin. Susan is an archetypal character, a liberated woman before the time when being so was in its way as disadvantaging as being black. And here we are in Montana, where what passes for "society" is diffuse and in many ways primitive, where even a county sheriff can be a secret kluxer. We have the Williamsons, with scion Wes dropping in from his Manhattan life and society wife and reigniting the unsatisfying but stimulating affair with our heroine, gradually buying up the Two country, and playing the wild card Monty . . .who unexpectedly has a life, and stature, of his own sufficient to bear off our heroine in the last paragraph -- great story, with the underlying elements of wealth, privilege, race, and Love as fresh around the beginning of the 20th Century as they are now.
March 6, 2022
The Two Medicine Country books are a journey back and forth between time, families, and locales that all eventually return to Montana. This series and this author have found a place among my most beloved books; ones that I long to begin again as soon as I come to the final pages. Highly recommend this and all other writings by this gifted author.
January 25, 2025
3.5 stars.
May 3, 2011
Prairie Nocturne is a fictional work that spans many years of ranch life in Montana. Susan Duff is a main character who is a singer and singing teacher of children. She is now middle aged and is apparently an older version of the little girl in Doig's most popular work, Dancing At the Rascal Fair. She has brought down the political career of the owner of the huge ranch that borders her family's ranch. She has not seen, Wes, for four years and so she is surprised when one evening he shows up at her home. Wes has come to ask a favor of her that entangles her life with his again and with his ranch hand and chauffeur, Monty.
Doig is an extremely gifted writer of beautiful prose. I am stretched in my understanding of phrases and this is a book that makes me feel I will have learned a thing or two about fine writing when I finish. This story is adding to a list of two other Western adventures written by men who live in the West. I have loved the kind of slow, easy tone of these writers about a rough and tumble and difficult life. I cannot read these books without feeling the desire of riding across the Western prairies and into the dry gulches and canyons again. Doig is spinning an intricate web of characters whose loneliness will collide in a big way. One is a very priviledged man with everything except what one desires most, one an intellectual,feminist woman, and one a black man who dares to want the same things that all the white people around him want. They have grown up together but have not known each other well. Doig seems intent on reconnecting them more intimately while reminding us of the long struggles for human rights and the changing American landscape. As the story progresses, danger ensues and Wes Williamson begins to "pull out the stops" to accomplish what he wishes against an unseen foe whose capacity for hatred becomes personal.
This book has action and for some who pick up subtle hints, still some surprises. A discussion group I was in, was lively and could have used more information about Wes Williamson the manipulator of the story. He is a complex man and readers were still discussing his motivations at the end. The group also discussed the rhythm and sequence of the story and there was mixed reaction as to whether or not it contributes to comprehension. Some understanding of the social pressures and the era that acts upon the characters is necessary. It generates lots of discussion for sure!
Doig is an extremely gifted writer of beautiful prose. I am stretched in my understanding of phrases and this is a book that makes me feel I will have learned a thing or two about fine writing when I finish. This story is adding to a list of two other Western adventures written by men who live in the West. I have loved the kind of slow, easy tone of these writers about a rough and tumble and difficult life. I cannot read these books without feeling the desire of riding across the Western prairies and into the dry gulches and canyons again. Doig is spinning an intricate web of characters whose loneliness will collide in a big way. One is a very priviledged man with everything except what one desires most, one an intellectual,feminist woman, and one a black man who dares to want the same things that all the white people around him want. They have grown up together but have not known each other well. Doig seems intent on reconnecting them more intimately while reminding us of the long struggles for human rights and the changing American landscape. As the story progresses, danger ensues and Wes Williamson begins to "pull out the stops" to accomplish what he wishes against an unseen foe whose capacity for hatred becomes personal.
This book has action and for some who pick up subtle hints, still some surprises. A discussion group I was in, was lively and could have used more information about Wes Williamson the manipulator of the story. He is a complex man and readers were still discussing his motivations at the end. The group also discussed the rhythm and sequence of the story and there was mixed reaction as to whether or not it contributes to comprehension. Some understanding of the social pressures and the era that acts upon the characters is necessary. It generates lots of discussion for sure!
August 4, 2012
Ivan Doig has a way with words. He doesn't say anything straight. Some examples from this book:
"No one even went near 'good morning'."
"A community of pigeons left off in panic."
"The adversary? The other side of the spinning coin of fate."
Ku Klux Klan are "those loonies in their bedsheets".
"Alone isn't spelled the same as lonely."
He had "a high stomach on the style of a pigeon."
Cowboys are those that are "perpetually starved for women".
I like this kind of writing. It is kind of sophisticate, and it keeps your mind twirling. :0)
Even though I like the writing style, I will only give this book two stars. Other books by the writer are better. Read Dancing at the Rascal Fair, This House of Sky: Landscapes of a Western Mind or The Whistling Season instead. Prairie Nocturne has characters that you meet in Dancing at the Rascal Fair, and in that one the plot, the story, is more gripping. In fact if you have not read that book you will miss much of the enjoyment that can be drawn from this book even though it is not a sequel.
This book is about characters that you already know. It is about the Ku Klux Klan, racial discrimination and about music(spirituals and jazz), more specifically the teaching of music. I never came to care for the characters. The plot line flips between past events before and during the first world war and the 1920s. Rather than giving a better understanding of the characters, it only disrupts the flow of the novel and makes it confusing. In fact I believe this further increased my dislike of the main character Susan.
And the ending may be satisfying to others since it does make you feel good, but the book just sort of stops. The plot offers no real surprises. No, you will do better by reading another of Ivan Doig's books. Usually he depicts teachers just wonderfully, they are so alive and enthused with their calling; here Susan falls flat. You can see: I do not like Susan.
ETA : the narration of the audiobook by Scott Sowers is special in that the songs are not read but sung.
"No one even went near 'good morning'."
"A community of pigeons left off in panic."
"The adversary? The other side of the spinning coin of fate."
Ku Klux Klan are "those loonies in their bedsheets".
"Alone isn't spelled the same as lonely."
He had "a high stomach on the style of a pigeon."
Cowboys are those that are "perpetually starved for women".
I like this kind of writing. It is kind of sophisticate, and it keeps your mind twirling. :0)
Even though I like the writing style, I will only give this book two stars. Other books by the writer are better. Read Dancing at the Rascal Fair, This House of Sky: Landscapes of a Western Mind or The Whistling Season instead. Prairie Nocturne has characters that you meet in Dancing at the Rascal Fair, and in that one the plot, the story, is more gripping. In fact if you have not read that book you will miss much of the enjoyment that can be drawn from this book even though it is not a sequel.
This book is about characters that you already know. It is about the Ku Klux Klan, racial discrimination and about music(spirituals and jazz), more specifically the teaching of music. I never came to care for the characters. The plot line flips between past events before and during the first world war and the 1920s. Rather than giving a better understanding of the characters, it only disrupts the flow of the novel and makes it confusing. In fact I believe this further increased my dislike of the main character Susan.
And the ending may be satisfying to others since it does make you feel good, but the book just sort of stops. The plot offers no real surprises. No, you will do better by reading another of Ivan Doig's books. Usually he depicts teachers just wonderfully, they are so alive and enthused with their calling; here Susan falls flat. You can see: I do not like Susan.
ETA : the narration of the audiobook by Scott Sowers is special in that the songs are not read but sung.
October 18, 2013
I'm a huge fan of Doig's Montana writings, and this one had some very intersting variations on that theme. And, as always, Doig's use of language (and mastery of dialogue) is stunning. Monty is an outsider due to his skin color, the only black cowhand on the ranch and eventually persecuted by the Klan (who knew they had a history in Montana?!). Susan is also an outsider because of her Scotch refusal to submit to societal mores. But both of their hearts are revealed as longing for what they cannot have: stardom and escape through singing and the love of a married man. The Major's motivations for promoting Monty's career are revealed with shocking and lightning speed in the last few pages. The Angus McCaskill saga comes to an end, as does the immigrants' dream of Scotch Heaven. I like the invocation of the Buffalo Soldiers' little-known stint on the "Medicne Line" Canadian border and the portrait of the Harlem Renaissance. For all of its violence,the ending is a positive one about follwoing your passions and heart against ALL odds.
March 15, 2023
Doug’s books are always interesting and often address important issues. In this he tells the story of an African American man with a beautiful voice. After wealthy westerner supports his voice lessons to turn him into an excellent performer the story takes many turns and involves a couple of run-ins with the KKK. The characters are wonderfully intertwined in many surprising ways and, I must say the ending was a bit unexpected by me. Love the tempo of Doig’s writing as it meanders along with many surprises. He is one of the best Western writers, keeping important stories alive with characters showing up in different ways over the course of his writing.
October 13, 2010
Doig has mixed reviews with me but after a few pages I knew this was one of his better ones. Excellent writing with good conversation, skillful use of flashbacks that add to the story, suspense, great description and sense of place and time, good continuity with Dancing at the Rascal Fair and good character development with some little twists you don't see coming. Well researched and exellent use of history blending into the story. (I learned several things that I both should or were unlike to have known. An excellent story of the American West and Montana but considerably beyond regional fiction.
July 11, 2022
Another good story by Ivan Doig. There are always unexpected twists throughout his books and this one is no exception. We get to learn more about Susan Duff (little schoolgirl in an earlier book "Dancing at the Rascal Fair"). She is now a grown woman teaching music lessons when Wes Williamson brings her a student that he wants her to teach... his chauffeur, Montgomery Rathbun. She's a strict teacher but he's not a child she can push around either.... watch the sparks fly!
Oh, and we say goodbye to other characters in this book. I'll not ruin it by divulging whom.
Oh, and we say goodbye to other characters in this book. I'll not ruin it by divulging whom.
October 26, 2009
I always enjoy how Doig creates such an all encompassing sense of place. His poetic language forces you to slow down and absorb the pioneer frontier. However, I wasn't so into this story line. I felt like the characters were lacking in depth. I wasn't sure of what their motivations were, and was totally surprised by how they ended up acting in the end. I definitely enjoyed the Montana Trilogy stories better, especially English Creek.
December 5, 2011
Ivan Doig is an excellent writer. I enjoy his prose and his attention to historical detail. I found the point of view interesting in this book. I haven't read any other books lately written in omniscient viewpoint where the narrator switches from one character's head to another's within the same scene. Anyway, it is a beautifully written story about racial conflict and love. I enjoyed it.
June 5, 2018
#6 in the Two Medicine collection. One of the best in the series--great story about a white woman who teaches a black man to sing. An epic saga of sorts; covers two generations of families. Involves Susan Duff, who was a student of Angus McCaskill in Dancing at the Rascal Fair (second in the series). Angus himself appears for part of the novel. An excellent read.
February 5, 2009
This book grew on me, but it took a while. I found Doig's writing to be distracting at first; it seemed like he was trying to hard. Also, the love relationship that develops was not convincing for me. But the book has a quiet, sad tone that appealed to me and has stayed with me.
April 3, 2012
I loved Whistling Season and I liked Work Song so I was excited to see another by this author. It might have been my mood but this book seemed to spend an awful lot of time going nowhere. I didn't like any of the main characters enough to really care what happened to them.
April 25, 2013
As always, I never know quite what to say after reading an Ivan Doig novel. As always, he tackles difficult, complicated topics. As always, his characters are amazing and fully realized. As always, his language is beautiful. However, this book felt very long.
October 23, 2013
Couldn't get past 1/3 in this one. Boring text w/unlikable characters.
December 8, 2019
Obviously I read this book long ago as I just found these messages when I went looking for a discussion of the book -- and OBVIOUSLY there was a discussion but that discussion seems to have evaporated from this site -- ALAS that is not good for those who wish to revisit a book discussion.
message 6: by Dottie Apr 04, 2008
Finally got a copy of this one from the library so may actually make the discussion eventually.
message 11: by Dottie Apr 07, 2008
Barb -- he won me over almost immediately! I'm finding myself wanting to do nothing but read this book but of course I am not able to do that -- sigh.
That first paragraph -- especially the line about the father's coffee just pushed me right into the story with nary a ripple. This should be fun!
message 13: by Dottie Apr 08, 2008
Finished devouring this today and as others have said -- sad to see it end.
message 23: by Dottie (last edited Jul 06, 2008)
Summer -- I was going to tell you that I believe I read somewhere that all the poetry and such in the book was Doig's but I don't recall where I read it. Was there an intro by Doig in the book? Or a note somewhere? I can't help but think I read that in some section within the book. I don't have a copy so can't go searching, sorry.
message 25: by Dottie (last edited Jul 06, 2008)
Powell's newsletter! I should have guessed that was where I saw/heard it! Thanks, Candy.
message 6: by Dottie Apr 04, 2008
Finally got a copy of this one from the library so may actually make the discussion eventually.
message 11: by Dottie Apr 07, 2008
Barb -- he won me over almost immediately! I'm finding myself wanting to do nothing but read this book but of course I am not able to do that -- sigh.
That first paragraph -- especially the line about the father's coffee just pushed me right into the story with nary a ripple. This should be fun!
message 13: by Dottie Apr 08, 2008
Finished devouring this today and as others have said -- sad to see it end.
message 23: by Dottie (last edited Jul 06, 2008)
Summer -- I was going to tell you that I believe I read somewhere that all the poetry and such in the book was Doig's but I don't recall where I read it. Was there an intro by Doig in the book? Or a note somewhere? I can't help but think I read that in some section within the book. I don't have a copy so can't go searching, sorry.
message 25: by Dottie (last edited Jul 06, 2008)
Powell's newsletter! I should have guessed that was where I saw/heard it! Thanks, Candy.
February 9, 2024
This was quite a saga in a few years. The central character, Montgomery Rathbun, is taken into the world of Susan Ninion and Wes Williamson in the wilderness of Montana territory. The story mostly covers 1924-1925 before the depression and after WWI. Wes is a retired Major in the military. Susan is vocal teacher of some renown, The story is ostensibly taken from a diary that Susan had kept during that time,
Monty is a ranch hand to the massive Double W land holding and he is employed as the clown during rodeos to protect the men doing the tricks and being in danger from the fevered horses they are supposedly taming. Monty also is the chauffer Wes in his fancy car. Wes noticed Monty's singing and Susan was hired to teach voice lessons.
The progress was very slow and the lifestyle of these people in Montana are characterized. Susan is independent and a strong woman, while Wes is an unhappy married man with a wife on the East Coast. He has been involved in politics. He likes the party life. He makes his rules as the time goes on.
The Klu Klux Klan was active in this part of America making Monty a prime target. A thorough tale with many plots to absorb.
Monty is a ranch hand to the massive Double W land holding and he is employed as the clown during rodeos to protect the men doing the tricks and being in danger from the fevered horses they are supposedly taming. Monty also is the chauffer Wes in his fancy car. Wes noticed Monty's singing and Susan was hired to teach voice lessons.
The progress was very slow and the lifestyle of these people in Montana are characterized. Susan is independent and a strong woman, while Wes is an unhappy married man with a wife on the East Coast. He has been involved in politics. He likes the party life. He makes his rules as the time goes on.
The Klu Klux Klan was active in this part of America making Monty a prime target. A thorough tale with many plots to absorb.
August 20, 2018
It’s hard for me to put in words how much I’ve enjoyed and learned from all of the Ivan Doig books I’ve read so far. This one did not disappoint and although after first chapter or two, I had put it aside to read something else, but once I came back to it, I had a hard time putting it down. This was the first book of his that involved interracial conflict( that I’ve read) and I thought the topic was dealt with credibly and tastefully. The fine interweaving of the relationships between Wes and Monty, Wes and Susan and finally Susan and Monty was spellbinding and cleverly crafted. The last several chapters were “edge of your seat” suspenseful, and I had no idea how the author would make it all play out in the end. I really enjoyed this read and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in post WW1 western Montana history.
February 20, 2019
The backdrop of a post World War I world is timeframe for an interesting story set in the unlikely pairing of Montana and Harlem. The story features two characters, Wes and Susan from previous stories. Wes owns a large ranching interest and Susan is a music teacher. A third character is introduced, Monty, who works for Wes as his chauffeur. Wes and Susan have a past and it is unexpected when Wes shows up seeking to have Susan instruct Monte. Wes thinks Monty has the potential to have a singing career. Wes is black. To avoid scrutiny she moves back to her ancestral ranch, but scruting comes nonetheless from local klansmen. Monte moves to friendlier territory in Harlem and Susan soon follows. It's a decent story but not his most believable. Kudos though for its ambitious scope of geographic, social, sexual and racial explorations.
November 9, 2025
Despite two rather substantial complaints, I found Prairie Nocturne to be a superb reading experience. Not my first Doig rodeo, I had some high expectations. The prose is delicious, and the characters are beautifully painted. Complaint #1 is the horrible drag in the middle - little happens, nothing adds to the story. I put the book down for a couple of weeks and picked it up again just because it was Doig. Finally, we have an ending that made no sense within the telling of the story. While that may be an unpardonable crime, I find it surprisingly forgivable. Doig simply failed to give us the clues that led to the conclusion, which turns out to be irrational and unsupportable, even as it was potentially logical had it been developed earlier. If you enjoy reading one sentence at a time, stopping to savor and think, then you will like this book.
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