Larry Cook divides his lands to his three children to avoid paying taxes and while Ginny and Rose like the idea, Caroline does not. The narrator tells Jess that Caroline moved to another city where she plans to marry a lawyer named Frank. Ginny’s sister also comes but Ginny doesn’t talk with her. Ginny also meets Jess’s brother, Loren, at the party and the differences between the two men are pointed out by the narrator. Rose had two children but Ginny was unable to have any children of her own so she grew extremely close to Rose’s children, Pammy and Linda. The narrator thus had to take upon herself the task of caring for her family, her husband and Rose’s family. The reader finds that during the 13 years span, the narrator’s sister, Rose, was diagnosed with cancer and the narrator married a man named Tyler when she was just nineteen. Jess returns home in 1979 and the narrator ends up participating at the welcoming party thrown for Jess. Jess leaves home for a period of 13 years, managing to escape being drafted for a period of time. In the second chapter, the narrator talks about Jess Clark who is drafted in the year 1966 to participate in the Vietnam War. The narrator, who will be later revealed as Ginny Cook, used to enjoy the Sundays she spend with her family and her friendship with Rose Ericson but her happy memories stopped when Caroline was born. The Ericsons and the Clarks are the families surrounding the narrator’s family’s farm. She has a younger sister who was born in 1951 and whose name is Caroline.įrom a young age, the narrator always wanted to have more and felt as if her family deserved the lands their neighbors had. The narrator remains unnamed in the first chapter but she talks about her family and her family’s farm in Iowa. The narrator begins the story by describing the place where she grew up, her family and her neighbors.

Written by Micola Magdalena, Elisheva Cohen We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community.

A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley