A Composite Novel: One Town. One Contest. One Winner. Thirteen Ways to Come Undone

In Liberty, Illinois — a small coal-mining town fallen on hard times - one obsession swallows everyday life: the Queen of Hearts contest. Built around a weekly drawing, the game can be over in a moment - or stretch on for months, sometimes even a full year. As the jackpot climbs past one million dollars, residents invest more than money. They invest hope, pride, desperation, and the belief that one turn of luck could finally mean relief.

Liberty is the kind of place where everyone knows your history — or thinks they do. The longer the jackpot grows, the more the contest turns into a pressure cooker. Friendships strain. Families fracture. Old grudges sharpen. What starts as entertainment becomes leverage, and the town's unspoken rules show themselves - who gets protected, who gets blamed, who gets believed, and what people will risk when "almost" starts to feel personal.

Through an ensemble cast of neighbors, couples, rivals, and outsiders, Queen of Hearts follows the ripple effects of a single, all-consuming dream: money gained not through merit, but luck. It can buy a fresh start — or expose what people were willing to trade for it.

Told through thirteen interconnected stories in two parts—The Reckoning and The Aftermath—Laurie Lisa's latest novel traces what happens before the win, and what lingers after. Known for real-life narrative, compelling dialogue, and richly observed rural Midwest worlds, Lisa delivers literary fiction with momentum: a town on edge, a weekly ritual, and a jackpot that turns hope into pressure.