I've never been a Jane Smiley fan; I've put down more of her books than I've finished. However, the family trilogy, starting with Some Luck, seemed interesting. I did finish this one, but it took some effort.
Each chapter is one year in the life of the Langdon family. Within each chapter there were "vignettes" about some of the family members. I had to pace myself with no more than two chapters a day, otherwise the years ran into each other; and the baby that was born a couple of pages ago was now five! (That's a little exaggeration, but it felt somehow incomplete)
The Langdons are Iowa farmers and most of the book takes place there. Life on the farm isn't easy. But they survive with hard work and "some luck." The first three-quarters of the book read like Laura Ingalls Wilder, so fans will like that. For me, however, the pace of the book picks up considerably in the last quarter when the first Langdon child goes off to serve in World War II, and his life beyond the farm after that. Perhaps I'm just a city girl.
I've never been a Jane Smiley fan; I've put down more of her books than I've finished. However, the family trilogy, starting with Some Luck, seemed interesting. I did finish this one, but it took some effort.
Each chapter is one year in the life of the Langdon family. Within each chapter there were "vignettes" about some of the family members. I had to pace myself with no more than two chapters a day, otherwise the years ran into each other; and the baby that was born a couple of pages ago was now five! (That's a little exaggeration, but it felt somehow incomplete)
The Langdons are Iowa farmers and most of the book takes place there. Life on the farm isn't easy. But they survive with hard work and "some luck." The first three-quarters of the book read like Laura Ingalls Wilder, so fans will like that. For me, however, the pace of the book picks up considerably in the last quarter when the first Langdon child goes off to serve in World War II, and his life beyond the farm after that. Perhaps I'm just a city girl.