Quandary Farm

It had never occurred to Plug to sell Quandary Farm. It had also never occurred to him that people sold houses for as much as fifty thousand dollars; some of the hustlers had been offering that little for the farm. We are, one must remember, discussing 1958.

Plug Shavaughn and his wife, Midge, own a large farm outside of Hartford, Connecticut. They are well-educated, slightly eccentric, and completely lacking the materialistic motives which govern most of society.

Various people want to purchase Quandary Farm for commercial development, including builders, lawyers, and other mafiosi. When Plug and Midge refuse to sell, these unscrupulous characters try to put pressure on the Shavaughn's to sell their farm. The saboteurs will stop at nothing-including arson, lawsuits, and assassination-to get their hands on the farm. With the help of hired hand Zeke Smithooski and his well-connected girlfriend, Gemma Giordano, the Shavaughn's relentlessly defend themselves from an onslaught of buyout offers and increasing violence.

Set in the late 1950s, Quandary Farm is a delightful novel that perfectly illustrates just how rarely things work out as planned.