The Quality of Life Report
by By Daum, Meghan
Category: Fiction , General

New York television reporter Lucinda Trout is in search of greener pastures. Her self-imposed mission: move to the slower-paced, friendly, and vastly more affordable midwestern town of Prairie City, USA. Her search includes but is not limited to: a decently sized apartment with a few aesthetic qualities; a job that is not all about pleasing her conniving, urban terror of a boss; the love of a good man; and, maybe, a dog. And so Lucinda departs with a plan to deliver televised reports to her New York audience about the sweeping landscapes, charming farmsteads, and quirky locals that will constitute her newfound quality of life.But when Lucinda falls for Mason Clay, the quirkiest local of all, her naivete about the real world leads her down an unexpected path. In an effort to portray her life as a romantic, rural, idyll (in which she takes the role of Sam Shepard's leading lady or "the kind of woman Lyle Lovett might write a song about"), Lucinda moves with Mason into a drafty farmhouse, where she must cope with his children, an ever-growing menagerie of farm animals, and the harshest winter the region has seen in twenty years. Lucinda is so determined to live out her fantasy that not even Mason's radical mood swings and eventual bout with addiction can deter her. In other words - simplicity isn't as simple as it is cracked up to be.Through a series of unexpected turns, help from quarters where she least expects it, and a growing love of a landscape that is undeniably real, Lucinda comes to realize that "quality of life" is much more complicated - and ultimately richer - than she ever imagined.