Ordinary Love and Good Will - Softcover

Smiley, Jane

Softcover

ISBN 10: 030727909X ISBN 13: 9780307279095

Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2007

Synopsis

These exquisite twin novellas chronicle the difficult choices that reshape the lives of two very different families. In Ordinary Love, Smiley focuses on a woman’s infidelity and the lasting, indelible effects it leaves on her children long after her departure. Good Will portrays a father who realizes how his son has been affected by his decision to lead a counterculture life and move his family to a farm. As both stories unfold, Smiley gracefully raises the questions that confront all families with the characteristic style and insight that has marked all of her work.

About this title

From the Publisher:

"Good Will" is by far my favorite short story. Telling the story of a man moving his family to a farm in search of simplicity, Jane Smiley creates a sharp examination of human nature, culminating in a devastating last scene that I will never forget.

From the Inside Flap:

"Smiley's stories lucidly explore the complexities of contemporary sexual and dometic life...the emotional and moral complexity that she uncovers in the characters of these resonant novellas confirms Jane Smiley's singular talent. ORDINARY LOVE AND GOOD WILL is an extraordinary achievement."
THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD
ORDINARY LOVE
At a reunion with her grown children, a woman recalls the long-ago affair that ended her relationship with their father--and changed all their lives irrevoccably.
GOOD WILL
Despite the carefully self-sufficient life he has designed for his small family, a man discovers that even the right choices have unexpected consequences--sometimes heart-breaking ones.

About this edition

• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 030727909X
• ISBN 13: 9780307279095
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208