Pickle's Progress

"The four main characters in Pickle’s Progress seem more alive than most of the people we know in real life."—Richard Russo

Marcia Butler’s debut novel, Pickle’s Progress, is a fierce, mordant New York story about the twisted path to love.

Over the course of five weeks, identical twin brothers, one wife, a dog, and a bereaved young woman collide with each other to comical and sometimes horrifying effect. Everything is questioned and tested as they jockey for position and try to maintain the status quo. Love is the poison, the antidote, the devil and, ultimately, the hero.

“Pickle’s Progress is a Weird — But Secretly Sweet — Journey.”—npr

"The four main characters in Pickle’s Progress seem more alive than most of the people we know in real life."–Richard Russo

“Pickle’s Progress is a Weird — But Secretly Sweet — Journey.”–npr

“Oh, what a pickle Pickle's Progress puts us in--a duke's mixture of villainy, deceit, betrayal, and, Lord help us, romantic love--all of it rendered in prose as trenchant as it is supple. Clearly, Ms. Butler is in thrall to these fascinatingly flawed characters, and by, oh, page 15 you will be, too.  Let's hope this is just the first of many more necessary novels to come."–Lee K. Abbott, Author of All Things, All at Once

"Written in brave and startling prose, Butler has written a fast-paced tale of identical twin brothers and the women in their orbit, who collide and dance in a haunting tale of tragedy, passion and love. " — Patty Dann, author of the bestselling novel, Mermaids

"Butler’s sharp, artistic sensibilities shine through, and the result is a brutal, funny story of family, regret, and belonging.” —Amy Poeppel, author of Limelight

"Invigorating, sly and mordantly funny, Pickle’s Progress offers a comic look at the foibles of human nature and all the ways love can seduce, betray and, ultimately, sustain us.” — Jillian Medoff, bestselling author of This Could Hurt

“Marcia Butler's debut novel, Pickle’s Progress, is funny, sharp, totally original, and completely engrossing. It joins the pantheon of great New York novels. I loved every page.” — Julie Klam, author of The Stars in Our Eyes

"You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll shake your head, but you'll keep turning those pages to find out what happens to Karen, Stan, Junie, and Pickle in this riveting, dramatic version of musical chairs.” — Charles Salzberg, author of Second Story Man and the Shamus Award nominated "Henry Swann" series

Marcia Butler has had a number of creative careers: professional musician, interior designer, documentary filmmaker, and author. As an oboist, the New York Times hailed her as a “first rate artist.” Acclaimed interior designs include projects in New York City, Boston, and Miami. The Creative Imperative, her documentary film exploring the essence of creativity, released in Spring 2019. Her memoir, The Skin Above My Knee, was one of the Washington Post’s “top ten noteworthy moments in classical music in 2017”.

Pickle’s Progress is her fiction debut.

After many decades in New York City, Marcia now makes her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.