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The Utterly Unacceptable Atrocity of Isabelle Marsden: A Novel
Not yet published
Expected 17 Mar 26Fans of
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
will be drawn to this tale of a woman whose search for a healing refuge leads instead to entanglements, discovery of untapped talent, and a found family that steers her back from the brink of madness.
All Isabelle Marsden wants when she moves from Chicago to Kansas is a place to retreat, reassess, and regain control of her life after an ugly #MeToo experience. But after a chance encounter with a free-spirited artist who carries a wallaby in a baby sling and makes assemblages from roadkill, she’s drawn into a community of eccentrics who soon have her lobbying to rescue their Summer Solstice parade, conducting surveillance at a roadside zoo, and visiting an outsider artist’s strange, yet intriguing, sculpture garden.
Inspired by that wild creation, Belle starts her own peculiar assemblage, convinced it’s the key to repairing her fractured life. As she uncovers her hidden creativity—and madness—her project lands her in trouble with her landlady, the city zoning department, and even the police. Ultimately, her only way through is to rely on help from her found family of oddball characters—and on her newly redefined self.
All Isabelle Marsden wants when she moves from Chicago to Kansas is a place to retreat, reassess, and regain control of her life after an ugly #MeToo experience. But after a chance encounter with a free-spirited artist who carries a wallaby in a baby sling and makes assemblages from roadkill, she’s drawn into a community of eccentrics who soon have her lobbying to rescue their Summer Solstice parade, conducting surveillance at a roadside zoo, and visiting an outsider artist’s strange, yet intriguing, sculpture garden.
Inspired by that wild creation, Belle starts her own peculiar assemblage, convinced it’s the key to repairing her fractured life. As she uncovers her hidden creativity—and madness—her project lands her in trouble with her landlady, the city zoning department, and even the police. Ultimately, her only way through is to rely on help from her found family of oddball characters—and on her newly redefined self.
280 pages, Paperback
Expected publication March 17, 2026
17 people want to read
About the author
Nan Sanders Pokerwinski
2 books22 followersNan Sanders Pokerwinski is the author of The Utterly Unacceptable Atrocity of Isabelle Marsden (She Writes Press, 2026) and Mango Rash: Coming of Age in the Land of Frangipani and Fanta (Behler, 2019).
Previously, she held the position of science writer at the Detroit Free Press for more than a decade, after which she worked as a science writer for the University of Michigan News Service for fourteen years. In her freelance work, she has been a contributing editor to Health and Alternative Medicine magazines and has written for More, Fitness, Dallas Morning News, and other print and online publications. (Her journalistic work carries the byline Nancy Ross-Flanigan).
A national engineering society once awarded her first place in their writing contest for a piece on potholes. Her work has garnered other awards—from groups as diverse as the Magazine Association of the Southeast and the American Motorcyclist Association—and a Pulitzer nomination.
MANGO RASH won first place in the memoir/nonfiction category of the 2018 Pacific Northwest Writers Association literary awards. In addition, excerpts were finalists for the 2015 and 2017 Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards, the 2015 Northern Colorado Writers Top of the Mountain Book Award, and the 2017 New Millennium Writings Literary Awards, and have been published in Colere.
When she's not writing, Nan takes photographs, makes collages, and wanders the woods around the West Michigan home she shares with her husband Ray Pokerwinski.
Previously, she held the position of science writer at the Detroit Free Press for more than a decade, after which she worked as a science writer for the University of Michigan News Service for fourteen years. In her freelance work, she has been a contributing editor to Health and Alternative Medicine magazines and has written for More, Fitness, Dallas Morning News, and other print and online publications. (Her journalistic work carries the byline Nancy Ross-Flanigan).
A national engineering society once awarded her first place in their writing contest for a piece on potholes. Her work has garnered other awards—from groups as diverse as the Magazine Association of the Southeast and the American Motorcyclist Association—and a Pulitzer nomination.
MANGO RASH won first place in the memoir/nonfiction category of the 2018 Pacific Northwest Writers Association literary awards. In addition, excerpts were finalists for the 2015 and 2017 Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards, the 2015 Northern Colorado Writers Top of the Mountain Book Award, and the 2017 New Millennium Writings Literary Awards, and have been published in Colere.
When she's not writing, Nan takes photographs, makes collages, and wanders the woods around the West Michigan home she shares with her husband Ray Pokerwinski.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 14, 2025
Read this book for inspiration, as a respite, or just because it has a capybara.
Many of us dream of starting over somewhere – a place that sizzles if we’re in a rut, or a simpler place if we’re burnt out. In Atrocity we can ride along with Isabelle as she retreats to a quiet place. But of course anyone who’s been to Lawrence, Kansas, could have told her that Lawrence does not fit the vision that “Kansas” evokes. Dorothy doesn’t live there anymore, and she never lived in Lawrence. Along with Isabelle, we discover that Lawrence is a quirky place and right away we see why this novel has such a quirky title. And so the fun begins. The author has filled her story with colorful, eccentric, delightful characters who do whimsical, unconventional, and amusing things. Soon enough, so does Isabelle.
Many of us dream of starting over somewhere – a place that sizzles if we’re in a rut, or a simpler place if we’re burnt out. In Atrocity we can ride along with Isabelle as she retreats to a quiet place. But of course anyone who’s been to Lawrence, Kansas, could have told her that Lawrence does not fit the vision that “Kansas” evokes. Dorothy doesn’t live there anymore, and she never lived in Lawrence. Along with Isabelle, we discover that Lawrence is a quirky place and right away we see why this novel has such a quirky title. And so the fun begins. The author has filled her story with colorful, eccentric, delightful characters who do whimsical, unconventional, and amusing things. Soon enough, so does Isabelle.
January 1, 2026
This book is a delight, a hootenanny, turquoise fever dream that was the perfect book to end 2025!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I really wanted to like this book. The title and concept are clever. There were way too many characters and too many side plots that did not enhance the story. Every character was so eccentric that characters became caricatures. Belle was easy to like in the beginning and I was rooting for her, but her behavior was manic and, frankly unlikeable, towards the end. Other readers may enjoy this book, but it was a miss for me.
I received an advanced copy from Netgalley for my review.
I received an advanced copy from Netgalley for my review.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews