The North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies is hosting a book release party, reading and signing, with Brenda Marshall, author of their newly released publication, “Dakota, Or What’s a Heaven For” on Thursday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. at the Plains Art Museum.
Marshall tells a story about desire and ambition set in late 19th century Dakota Territory. The lives and schemes of frontier politicians, Northern Pacific Railroad executives, bonanza farmers and homesteaders converge in the story of Frances Houghton Bingham, who marries the son of a Red River Valley bonanza farmer in order to remain near her new husband’s sister. Emotionally complex, willful and resourceful, Houghton is seduced by the myths of opportunity driving the settlement of Dakota Territory, and dares to dream of a new world in which to realize her unconventional desires.
Providing a counterpoint to the dramatic risks taken by Houghton is the generous voice of Kirsten Knudson, the daughter of Norwegian homesteaders. As Knudson grows from a voluble girl to a formidable woman, her observations (equal parts absurdity and insight) reveal the heart of the novel.
An excerpt of the book has recently been published in the Michigan Quarterly Review. North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies proudly offers Marshall’s story to the public as one of very few ventures into fiction because its elements resonate so clearly in the history of the Dakotas.
Marshall was born and raised on a farm near Wheatland, N.D. She graduated from Central Cass High School in Casselton, and earned her bachelor’s degree from NDSU, master’s degree at Colorado State University and doctorate at the University of Massachusetts.
“Dakota, Or What’s a Heaven For,” is available through the North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies website at www.ndsu.edu/ahss/ndirs or by contacting Nancy Nelson at 1-8338. More details on the book are available at www.brendamarshallauthor.com.