A Thousand Acres (Masterplots II: American Fiction Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Jane Smiley
- First Published: 1991
- Type of Plot: Family
- Time of Work: 1979 through the early 1980’s
- Setting: Iowa
- Principal Characters: Virginia (Ginny) Cook Smith, Rose Cook Lewis, Caroline Cook, Laurence (Larry) Cook, Ty Smith, Pete Lewis, Harold Clark, Jess Clark, Loren Clark
- Genres: Long fiction, Domestic realism, Family literature
- Subjects: 1970’s, Family or family life, Parents and children, Suicide, Blindness or blind persons, Midwest, 1980’s, Child abuse, Incest, Cancer, Farms, farmers, or farming, Fathers, Adultery, Sisters, Accidents, Tragedy, Heroes or heroism, Environment or environmental health, Draft, military, Poisons or poisoning, Shakespeare, William, or Shakespearean plays
- Locales: Iowa
The Novel
Set on a farm in Iowa, A Thousand Acres draws on William Shakespeare’s King Lear (c.1605) in its story of an aging farmer who decides to divide his land among his three daughters. His decision alters the family’s life forever and forces his oldest daughter, Ginny, the book’s narrator, to confront her past.
The story opens in 1979 in Zebulon County, Iowa, as Larry Cook announces his decision to split his land among his children. Cook’s married daughters and their husbands agree to the plan, but his youngest daughter, Caroline, who has left...
[The entire page is 2934 words long]
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