Us Fools

By: Nora Lange

Narrated by: Emily Lawrence

A tragicomic, intimate American story of two precocious sisters coming of age during the Midwestern farm crisis of the 1980s.

Joanne and Bernadette Fareown are raised on their family farm in rural Illinois, keenly affected by their parents’ volatile relationship and mounting financial debt, haunted by the cursed history of the women in their family. Largely left to their own devices, the sisters educate themselves on Greek mythology, feminism, and Virginia Woolf, realizing they must find unique ways to cope in these antagonistic conditions, questioning the American Dream as the rest of the country abandons their community in crisis.

As Jo and Bernie’s imaginative solutions for escape come up short against their parents’ realities, the family leaves their farm for Chicago, where Joanne—free-spirited, reckless, and unable to tame her inner violence—rebels in increasingly desperate ways. After her worst breakdown yet, Jo goes into exile in Deadhorse, Alaska, and it is up to Bernadette to use all she’s learned from her sister to revive a sense of hope against the backdrop of a failing world.

With her debut novel, Nora Lange has crafted a rambunctious, ambitious, and heart-rending portrait of two idiosyncratic sisters, determined to persevere despite the worst that capitalism and their circumstances has to throw at them.

©2024 by Nora Lange. (P)2024 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Emily Lawrence captures the snarky, often exasperated, voice of Bernadette Fareown as she looks back at her Midwest childhood. In the shadow of her free-spirited older sister, Joanne, Bernadette observes her parents' volatile marriage and the effects of generations of mental illness.… Lawrence smoothly portrays Bernadette's empathy and frustration, and balances them with humor and introspection. In an effort to reconnect with Joanne as an adult, Bernadette journeys to remote Alaska. Thinking of her past and her present, Bernadette reflects on the complexities of growing up.” —AudioFile Magazine

"Lange’s debut novel is a refreshingly sardonic take on the decaying ideal of the American dream, with an anti-capitalist tilt. At the end of it all, this is not just a brilliant bildungsroman: Like the classics that the Fareown sisters quote ad infinitum, it’s a lush, uncanny mythology itself." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"[A] resonant debut... Lange’s lucid story digs deep into the bonds of family and the alliances that are formed and retained across time and despite changing circumstances. Readers will be captivated." —Publishers Weekly

Not so good

Story was annoying at times. Full of sarcasm about a tragedy.
Narrator had annoying nasal voice. Tale of incompetence at life.
Outcome and ending was completely expected.
I would not recommend this to anyone.

Poorly written and poorly narrated

Way too long of a book to convey that their parents loved to have sex and her sister liked masterbation and had mental illness. Oh and the farmers got screwed. Missed opportunity for sure!! Could have been a one chapter short story. No likable characters and narrator did not help at all.

Terrible writing

this book goes on and on and on about events of the world that happened during this authors story it completely sucked. the narrator made the story BORING!!!!!!!