Golden Age

Golden Age by Jane Smilley
443 Pages

"Golden Age, the final installment, of the Langdon Family trilogy opens in 1987. Michael and Richie, the rivalrous twin sons of World War II hero Frank, work in the high-stakes world of government and finance in Washington and New York, but they soon realize that one's fiercest enemies can be closest to home; Charlie, the charming, recently found scion, struggles with whether he wishes to make a mark on the world; and Guthrie, once poised to take over the Langdons' Iowa farm, is instead deployed to Iraq, leaving the land--ever the heart of this compelling saga--in the capable hands of his younger sister. Determined to evade disaster, for the planet and her family, Felicity worries that the farm's once-bountiful soil may be permanently imperiled, by more than the extremes of climate change. And as they enter deeper into the twenty-first century, all the Langdon women--wives, mothers, daughters--find themselves charged with carrying their storied past into an uncertain future."

I was happy to read the final book and was not disappointed with Smiley's writing.  The only detraction from my enjoyment was the difficulty of keeping track of all the characters because as the trilogy evolved the number of characters increased tremendously.  

Early Warning

Early Warning by Jane Smiley
475 Pages

"Early Warning opens in 1953 with the Langdon family at a crossroads. Their stalwart patriarch, Walter, who with his wife, Rosanna, sustained their farm for three decades, has suddenly died, leaving their five children, now adults, looking to the future. Only one will remain in Iowa to work the land, while the others scatter to Washington, D.C., California, and everywhere in between. As the country moves out of post-World War II optimism through the darker landscape of the Cold War and the social and sexual revolutions of the 1960s and '70s, and then into the unprecedented wealth--for some--of the early 1980s, the Langdon children each follow a different path in a rapidly changing world. And they now have children of their own: twin boys who are best friends and vicious rivals; a girl whose rebellious spirit takes her to the notorious Peoples Temple in San Francisco; and a golden boy who drops out of college to fight in Vietnam--leaving behind a secret legacy that will send shock waves through the Langdon family into the next generation."

The second of Smiley's trilogy is not quite as strong as the first part mainly due to the sheer number of characters.  I had some difficulty keeping track of who was who as the book went from 1953 to the early 80's. 

Some Luck

Some Luck by Jane Smiley
395 Pages


This book is the sage of a farming family in Iowa in the years 1920-1953.  As time progresses we see the couple Rosanna and Walter Langdon have children and suffer through the years of the depression, droughts and World War II.  The narrative jumps from Langdon to Langdon but progresses linearly until 1953.  Supposedly Smiley will be writing two more books in the Langdon family saga. 

If you haven't read any Jane Smiley I would recommend Horse Heaven or A Thousand Acres as well as this novel.  She has a very easy style and you will quickly get engrossed in the story.