A Thousand Acres (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Jane Smiley
- First Published: 1991
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Domestic realism
- Time of Work: 1979 and 1982
- Setting: Northwestern Iowa
- 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
Characters Discussed
Virginia (Ginny) Cook Smith, the narrator and the oldest of Larry Cook’s three daughters. Even after marriage to Ty Smith, Ginny is the mainstay of the Cook homestead, tending her widowed father, her ailing sister Rose, and the large farm on which they all live. After repressing the memory, Ginny later accepts the fact that Larry sexually molested his two oldest daughters. Ginny clashes with Larry over management of the farm and with Rose over affection for Jess Clark.
Laurence (Larry) Cook, a proud Iowa farmer. A widower in his sixties, Larry...
[The entire page is 1102 words long]
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