Lord of Misrule

Jaimy Gordon's engrossing Lord of Misrule is a National Book Award winner. In the early 1970s, horse trainer Tommy Hansel cooks up a crafty get-rich-quick scheme. But his plans go awry when everyone at the Indian Mound Downs track seems to be on to his shenanigans. Complicating matters further is Tommy's tragic love, Maggie. She adores the horses in all their rundown glory and becomes fascinated by the misfits who populate the backwater West Virginia track-including some local gangsters looking for a big score of their own.