Jane Smiley, página 2 de 4

Margaret Mayfield is nearly an old maid at twenty-seven when she marries Captain Andrew Jackson Jefferson Early. Hes the most famous man their Missouri town has ever produced: a naval officer and an astronomer-a genius who, according to the local paper, has changed the universe. Margarets mother calls the match "a piece of luck." Yet Andrew confounds Margarets expectations from the moment their train leaves for his naval base in San Francisco, and soon she realizes that his devotion to science leaves little room for anything, or anyone, else. She stands by him through tragedies both personal and those they share with the nation. But as World War II approaches, Andrews obsessions take a darker turn, forcing Margaret to reconsider the life shed so carefully constructed.

Abby Lovitt has always been more at ease with horses than with people. Her father insists they call all the mares "Jewel" and all the geldings "George" and warns Abby not to get attached: the horses are there to be sold. But with all the stress at school (the Big Four have turned against Abby and her friends) and home (her brother Danny is gone-for good, it seems-and now Daddy wont speak his name), Abby seeks refuge with the Georges and the Jewels. But theres one gelding on her familys farm that gives her no end of trouble: the horse who wont meet her gaze, the horse who bucks her right off every chance he gets, the horse her father makes her ride and train, every day. She calls him the Ornery George.

Abby Lovitt doesnt realize how unprepared she is when she takes her beloved horse, True Blue, to a clinic led by the most famous equestrian anyone knows. The biggest surprise, though, is that Sophia, the girl who never makes a mistake, suddenly makes so many that she stops riding. Who will ride her horse? Abbys dad seems to think it will be Abby. Pie in the Sky is the most expensive horse Abby has ever ridden. But he is proud and irritable, and he takes Abbys attention away from the continuing mystery that is True Blue.And then theres high school. Abby finds new friends, but also new challenges, and a larger world that sometimes seems strange and intimidating. She begins to wonder if there is another way to look at horses, people, and life itself.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning, bestselling novel from one of America's greatest contemporary writers. Larry Cook's farm is the largest in Zebulon County, Iowa, and a tribute to his hard work and single-mindedness. Proud and possessive, his sudden decision to retire and hand over the farm to his three daughters, is disarmingly uncharacteristic. Ginny and Rose, the two eldest, are startled yet eager to accept, but Caroline, the youngest daughter, has misgivings. Immediately, her father cuts her out. In A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley transposes the King Lear story to the modern day, and in so doing ...

From a brilliant Pulitzer Prize-winning and best-selling author: a rollicking murder mystery set in Gold Rush California, as two young prostitutes follow a trail of missing girls.Monterey, 1851. Ever since her husband was killed in a bar fight, Eliza Ripple has been working in a brothel. It seems like a better life, at least at first. The madam, Mrs. Parks, is kind, the men are (relatively) well behaved, and Eliza has attained what few women have: financial security. But when the dead bodies of young women start appearing outside of town, a darkness descends that she can't resist confronting. Side by side with her friend Jean, and inspired by her reading, especially by Edgar Allan Poe's detective Dupin, Eliza pieces together an array of clues to try to catch the killer, all the while juggling clients who begin to seem more and more suspicious.

1920. After his return from the battlefields in France, Walter Langdon and his wife Rosanna begin their life together on a remote farm in Iowa. As time passes, their little family will grow: from Frank, the handsome, willful first-born, to Joe, whose love of animals and the land sustains him; from Lillian, beloved by her mother, to Henry who craves only the world of his books; and Claire, the surprise baby, who earns a special place in her father's heart. As Walter and Rosanna struggle to keep their family through good years and hard years - to years more desperate than they ever could have imagined, the world around their little farm will turn, and life for their children will be unrecognizable from what came before. Some will fall in love, some will have families of their own, some will go to war and some will not survive. All will mark history in their own way. Tender, compelling and moving from the 1920s to the 1950s, told in multiple voices as rich as the Iowan soil, Some Luck is an astonishing feat of storytelling by a prize-winning author writing at the height of her powers.

Joe Stratford, who sells nice houses in a beautiful place, and whose not very amicable divorce is over, is ready for his life to begin again. It is 1982, morning in America, and temptation is everywhere. And, as Marcus Burns (Joes new friend from New York) says, the old rules are ready to be broken. Marcus should know: hes just quit his job with the tax man. But are his ideas about how to get rich - really rich - too big and risky for Joe? And what about the real estate development at Salt Key Farm: why is the local savings and loan so eager to lend Marcus and Joe the money for its asking price? And theres Felicity - the daughter of Joes business partner - who has finally confessed how fond she is of Joe. But, Joe wonders, is this winning, free-spirited (already married) woman really the one hes been waiting for?Smileys superb novel does for estate agency what The West Wing does for politics - make it, against the odds, enthralling and sexy . . . Good Faith has some wonderfully funny characters and is wise and touching.Mail on SundayWonderful . . . With the skill, wit and wisdom that were in evidence in her previous bestsellers Moo and A Thousand Acres, Smiley brings us an absorbing tale about the perils of pursuing your dream.Red Magazine (Must-Read of the Month)Only a writer of consummate craftsmanship and scope could write a novel about a series of real estate deals in a small town an hour and a half from New York City and make it so fully satisfying as to be thrilling. Jane Smiley has done it.Los Angeles Times

From the Pulitzer Prize-winner: the second installment, following "Some Luck, "of her widely acclaimed, best-selling American trilogy, which brings the journey of a remarkable family with roots in the Iowa heartland into mid-century America "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. Capturing a transformative period through richly drawn characters we come to know and care deeply for, "Early Warning" continues Smiley s extraordinary epic trilogy, a gorgeously told saga that began with "Some Luck "and will span a century in America. But it also stands entirely on its own as an engrossing story of the challenges and rewards of family and home, even in the most turbulent of times, all while showcasing a beloved writer at the height of her considerable powers. "From the Hardcover edition.""