Jane Smiley's Early Warning
The second book in Smiley's Langdon family trilogy (after the excellent Some Luck),
tracing the family from the 50s to the 80s, is kind of a slow
starter--there are a lot more people to keep track of in this one, and
it took me a bit to remember all the interrelationships. Eventually I
got into the groove and was happy to sink back into this now-extended
family's lives. Obviously some characters are more compelling than
others, and some of the plotlines strain incredulity a bit--it makes
sense that at least one of the boys would end up in Vietnam, but how
likely is it that another grandchild would get involved with Jim Jones
and the People's Temple? (Not that it's not fascinating to read about.)
The Cold War elements as well as the treatment of mental illness are
both really well done, and I liked how Smiley slyly snuck in a random
child--at first I was like "who's THIS kid" and when I figured it out
after his second appearance I honestly GASPED. I also liked seeing the
gradual shift from what someone of my generation (The X/Millennium cusp)
considers "olden times" to what I recognize as modernity. And of course
there's more of what made the first great--complicated families,
motherhood (of many sorts), secrets, love, siblings, and so on. Smiley really makes these people feel real. I ended this one crying, but they were happy tears. A-.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in April.
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