A revived work of twentieth-century fiction that spans years and continents to satirize and explore religious fanaticism and expat life.
“[Bromfield was] Gertrude Stein’s favorite American novelist and the Lost Generation’s favorite Ivy League dropout.” —Maria Popova, The Marginalian
“The best religious mystery story this reviewer has ever read.” —The New Republic
First published in 1928, Louis Bromfield’s The Strange Case of Miss Annie Spragg is a haunting and genre-defying tale—a thoughtful reflection on religion and human nature with the propulsion of a mystery. Set in Italy and the American Midwest, this surprisingly modern novel now has a new introduction by Bromfield biographer Stephen Heyman.
The novel opens on a ragtag community of American expats in rural Italy. When Annie Spragg, a local eccentric, dies with stigmata on her body, the diocese tasks the skeptical Mr. Winnery with investigating whether actual miracles occurred at her deathbed. From there, the novel brings us back to Annie’s origins as the child of a cult-leader and prophet on the American frontier. As the story unfolds, Bromfield traverses time and continents as he weaves together satire, mysticism, and psychological insight to explore themes of religious fanaticism, repression, and redemption.
Heyman’s new introduction situates Annie Spragg within Bromfield’s literary evolution—from chronicler of liberated women to environmental visionary—and reintroduces readers to a writer whose influence shaped both American letters and sustainable agriculture. This edition invites fans of twentieth-century fiction to rediscover a novel that remains provocative and poignant today.
Louis Bromfield (1896–1956) was a novelist, screenwriter, and pioneering conservationist. A bestselling author in the 1920s and ’30s, he later founded Malabar Farm in Ohio, where he championed sustainable agriculture and inspired the modern organic movement. His best-known books include Early Autumn (winner of the Pulitzer Prize), The Rains Came, and Pleasant Valley, which reflect his wide-ranging literary and environmental interests.
Stephen Heyman is the author of The Planter of Modern Life: Louis Bromfield and the Seeds of a Food Revolution. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Slate, Vogue, The Wall Street Journal, and elsewhere.
Contents
Introduction ix
The Thing Found In The Cesspool 3
The Man Who Became God 45
Twenty Years Of Devotion 63
A Prairie Idyll 88
A Sentimental Passage 107
The Crime Of Meeker’s Gulch 125
Father D’astier’s Story 140
Stay Me With Flagons 157
The End Of Aunt Bessie 171
Sister Annunziata 211
Coda 230
The Janitress’ Tale 255
The Romance Of Mr. Winnery 263
Mr. Winnery’s Private Miracle 284
