Plainsong

Published in 1999, Plainsong is a literary novel that explores the intersecting lives of residents in the fictional farming town of Holt, Colorado. The narrative weaves together the stories of a high school teacher, two elderly bachelor farmers, and a pregnant teenager. It is a poignant look at community, isolation, and unexpected kindness on the American plains.

Yes, Plainsong is the first book in a loosely connected trilogy set in the fictional town of Holt, Colorado. It was followed by Eventide in 2004 and Benediction in 2013. Kent Haruf also wrote a final posthumous novel, Our Souls at Night, set in the same town.

While it did not win a Pulitzer, Plainsong was a finalist for the 1999 National Book Award for Fiction. The novel received widespread critical acclaim for its plain-spoken prose and deeply humanistic characters. It became a bestseller and was later adapted into a made-for-television movie by CBS.

The novel follows several perspectives, primarily focusing on Tom Guthrie, a local high school teacher raising two young sons alone. The story also heavily features the McPheron brothers, Raymond and Harold, two aging bachelors who run a farm. They ultimately take in Victoria Roubideaux, a pregnant teenager who has been kicked out of her home.