In this unforgettable and heartbreaking novel, Brad Watson tells the story of the life of Jane Chisolm, born in early twentieth-century rural Mississippi with a birth defect that will stand in the way of the central 'uses' fora woman in that time and place : sex and marriage. Yet the world of Miss Jane Chisolm is anything but barren. From the country doctor who adopts her to the hard tactile labour of farm life, from the sensual world of nature around her to the boy who loves but is forced to leave her, the quiet dignity of Miss Jane's life is nothing short of an act of triumph — not only over those who would shun her, but even over the limitations of her own body.