Some Luck: A novel (The Last Hundred Years Trilogy: A Family Saga Book 1)

Longlisted for the 2014 National Book Award From the winner of the Pulitzer Prize: a powerful, engrossing new novel—the life and times of a remarkable family over three transformative decades in America. On their farm in Denby, Iowa, Rosanna and Walter Langdon abide by time-honored values that they pass on to their five wildly different children: from Frank, the handsome, willful first born, and Joe, whose love of animals and the land sustains him, to Claire, who earns a special place in her father’s heart. Each chapter in Some Luck covers a single year, beginning in 1920, as American soldiers like Walter return home from World War I, and going up through the early 1950s, with the country on the cusp of enormous social and economic change. As the Langdons branch out from Iowa to both coasts of America, the personal and the historical merge seamlessly: one moment electricity is just beginning to power the farm, and the next a son is volunteering to fight the Nazis; later still, a girl you’d seen growing up now has a little girl of her own, and you discover that your laughter and your admiration for all these lives are mixing with tears. Some Luck delivers on everything we look for in a work of fiction. Taking us through cycles of births and deaths, passions and betrayals, among characters we come to know inside and out, it is a tour de force that stands wholly on its own. But it is also the first part of a dazzling epic trilogy—a literary adventure that will span a century in America: an astonishing feat of storytelling by a beloved writer at the height of her powers. On Their Farm In Denby, Iowa, Rosanna And Walter Langdon Abide By Time-honored Values That They Pass On To Their Five Wildly Different Yet Equally Remarkable Children: Frank, The Brilliant, Stubborn First-born; Joe, Whose Love Of Animals Makes Him The Natural Heir To His Family's Land; Lillian, An Angelic Child Who Enters A Fairy-tale Marriage With A Man Only She Will Fully Know; Henry, The Bookworm Who's Not Afraid To Be Different; And Claire, Who Earns The Highest Place In Her Father's Heart. Moving From Post-world War I America Through The Early 1950s, Some Luck Gives Us An Intimate Look At This Family's Triumphs And Tragedies, Zooming In On The Realities Of Farm Life, While Casting -- As The Children Grow Up And Scatter To New York, California, And Everywhere In Between -- A Panoramic Eye On The Monumental Changes That Marked The First Half Of The Twentieth Century. The First Novel In A Dazzling New Epic Trilogy From The Winner Of The Pulitzer Prize; A Literary Adventure That Will Span A Century In America. 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. Jane Smiley. This Is A Borzoi Book--title Page Verso. On their farm in Denby, Iowa, Rosanna and Walter Langdon abide by time-honored values that they pass on to their five wildly different yet equally remarkable children: Frank, the brilliant, stubborn first-born; Joe, whose love of animals makes him the natural heir to his family's land; Lillian, an angelic child who enters a fairy-tale marriage with a man only she will fully know; Henry, the bookworm who's not afraid to be different; and Claire, who earns the highest place in her father's heart. Moving from post-World War I America through the early 1950s, Some Luck gives us an intimate look at this family's triumphs and tragedies, zooming in on the realities of farm life, while casting-as the children grow up and scatter to New York, California, and everywhere in between-a panoramic eye on the monumental changes that marked the first half of the twentieth century. Rich with humor and wisdom, twists and surprises, Some Luck takes us through deeply emotional cycles of births and deaths, passions, and betrayals, displaying Smiley's dazzling virtuosity, compassion, and understanding of human nature and the nature of history, never discounting the role of fate and chance. This potent conjuring of many lives across generations is a stunning tour de force. NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Thousand Acres comes the first volume of an epic trilogy that takes us on a literary adventure through cycles of birth and death, passion and betrayal that will span a century in America. “Intimate.... Miraculous.... Staggering.... A masterpiece in the making.” — USA Today 1920, Denby, Iowa: Rosanna and Walter Langdon have just welcomed their firstborn son, Frank, into their family farm. He will be the oldest of five. Each chapter in this extraordinary novel covers a single year, encompassing the sweep of history as the Langdons abide by time-honored values and pass them on to their children. With the country on the cusp of enormous social and economic change through the early 1950s, we watch as the personal and the historical merge seamlessly: one moment electricity is just beginning to power the farm, and the next a son is volunteering to fight the Nazis. Later still, a girl we’d seen growing up now has a little girl of her own. "An epic novel that spans thirty years in the lives of a farm family in Iowa, telling a parallel story of the changes taking place in America from 1920 through the early 1950s"--Provided by publisher.