Epic and Lovely A Novel
Epic and Lovely by Mo Daviau, published by West Virginia University Press in 2025, is a novel that explores the life of Nina Simone Blaine, the daughter of a 1950s Vegas crooner and a Texas beauty queen. Following her unexpected divorce, Nina returns to Los Angeles to spend her final days with The Friends of the Good Thumb, a support group for patients with A12 Fibrillin Deficiency Syndrome, a genetic disorder that leads to significant physical challenges and a shortened lifespan.
In this narrative, Nina writes a deathbed letter to her UCLA physician, reflecting on her experiences with the support group and her tumultuous relationship with Cole, a fellow patient. The story delves into themes of love, loss, and the complexities of family dynamics, as Nina navigates her feelings for Cole, the return of her estranged mother, and the unexpected joys of impending motherhood. With a page count of 272, this edition presents a blend of humor and poignant moments, inviting readers to engage with Nina’s journey as she confronts her past and seeks to secure a future for her child.
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Epic and Lovely is the swan song of Nina Simone Blaine, the daughter of a long-dead 1950s Vegas crooner and a Texas beauty queen forty years his junior. In the wake of her unexpected divorce, Nina returns to her hometown of Los Angeles to spend her final days with The Friends of the Good Thumb, a support group for patients with A12 Fibrillin Deficiency Syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects children of much-older fathers, causes several physical deformities, and results in death around the age of forty.
Written as a deathbed letter to the UCLA physician who has tracked Nina and the other Good Thumbs throughout their lives, Nina recounts her final days with the group and with Cole, the charismatic, sadistic fellow A12er with whom she has fallen madly in love, who charms and harms her in equal measures. An unlikely alliance with a tech billionaire, the return of her estranged mother, and the birth of the baby she never thought she’d have force Nina to reckon with the triumphs and mistakes of her life and to fight to leave her child in good hands.
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