Miss Portland

“[Miss Portland is] a moving paean to becoming the place where you belong. Zoe’s life has been a quest for meaning, driven by the manic highs and throttling lows of bipolar disorder. […] The dualities in her situation—moving to Portland to live with her guru but not depending on him for her sense of self, quitting therapy and medication cold turkey but monitoring herself for signs of her bipolar cycle—offer a complex, intimate, and deeply humane portrait of a person whose experience of the world is both alternate and poignantly familiar. […] Ebenbach’s sensitive portrayal resists easy answers or convenient endings. Zoe’s quest for a happy ending may take her to Portland, Maine, but, ultimately, it leads her back to herself.” –Foreword Reviews

“Anybody who has ever tried (again) to make a fresh start, to begin again (again), to give it all another shot someplace else (again), will adore Miss Portland and its hero, Zoe Tussler, a woman who can’t make up her mind about very much, and yet is very much a survivor. Miss Portland is a book that makes not figuring out not only alright, but actually kind of inspiring. Zoe is a complex character with a big heart and a hectic mind. As she says late in the book: ‘But I’ve tried everything! And I’m always the same!’ Isn’t this the truth? For so many of us. God knows I include myself. And Zoe is the sort of character who will stick with you, not only because she might well remind you of yourself or someone you know, but also because she’s an utterly unique character in her own right. By the end of the book you’ll be seeing the world through Zoe’s eyes and you’ll find beauty in just being able to get through the day, which, when you think about it, is pretty huge. This is a very memorable and humane book, the kind of book we need more of.” -Peter Orner, judge of the 2016 Orison Fiction Prize

“In his novel, Miss Portland, David Ebenbach graces us with an unforgettable portrait of Zoe, a young visionary and divine innocent suffering from a diagnosis of the psyche that falls short of healing. With rabbinic wisdom, the sweet truths of parable and perfect wit, Ebenbach reminds us that what we can most richly give and receive from one another on this earth are acts of loving kindness and humble, curative gestures of empathy.” -Melissa Pritchard, recipient of The Flannery O’Connor Award

“David Ebenbach’s novel Miss Portland accomplishes something remarkable, which is to make the mind of someone who thinks differently from most of us accessible and sympathetic. This book manages to be at once enchanting and deeply troubling, beautifully simple and subtly complex, a pleasure to read and something that will stay with you long after you’ve put it down.” -Emily Mitchell, author of Viral and The Last Summer of the World