A Thousand Acres

A Thousand Acres
By Jane Smiley
Knopf, 1991. 371 pgs. Fiction

I had forgotten how depressing and tragic King Lear is until I read this retelling set on an Iowa farm. Larry Cook owns a thousand acres of farmland and farms it with his two son-in-laws. His oldest daughter, Ginny, prepares him breakfast each morning. Rose, the second daughter, is recovering from breast cancer. While at a barbecue, a drunken Larry proposes to retire and split the farm evenly between his three daughters. Caroline, the youngest daughter, realizes the folly of this plan and Ginny, the narrator, knows Larry is doing this in response to his jealousy over a neighbor farmer’s new tractor. However, Ginny, Rose, and their husbands agree to the plan, but Caroline rejects it, causing her father to reject her. This proposal and subsequent turnover has serious consequences for all involved.

For those who have read King Lear, they will recognize several scenes from the tragedy, including the storm, the Earl of Gloucester being blinded, and the older sisters’ adultery. Smiley has added her own tragedies specific to this novel, which highlight the contentious relationship between Ginny, Rose and their father. These new additions to the story pushed it over the edge for me, making my read laborious and a fight to finish it. I wish I had remembered what King Lear was like; I might have chosen to read another book instead.

MN