Prairie Valkyries Don't Canter

In the seventies, Jennifer challenges academic norms to earn a PhD in sociology. As a professor, she embraces her freedom to teach about the flyover Midwest and its complicated people. Along her journey, she collects Three Daddies: Bob, her estranged husband; Paul, her former Methodist minister; and Father Brian, a Catholic priest. Alone, Jennifer decides to have Valky and raise her to be a Valkyrie. She carves out her own power in a male-dominated university hierarchy by recruiting like-minded Valkyries who control everything without apology. Now retired, Jennifer returns to Plainsboro with her Three Daddies, her power intact.

In Prairie Valkyries Don't Canter, Cecil Homer explores how Jennifer and Valky obtain power beyond personal freedom in universities plagued by gender inequities. Homer invites you to share in the diverse cultures, religions, rural lives, sexual norms, and university experiences of the Midwest, all laced with its understated humor, painting a vivid picture of its people and the hard-riding Valkyries on the plains.