Jane Smiley est une romancière américaine dont les œuvres se caractérisent par une profonde perspicacité de la nature humaine et des relations sociales. Dans ses romans, elle entrelace magistralement des descriptions de la vie rurale avec des thèmes universels d'amour, de perte et de recherche de sens. Son style est précis et évocateur, se concentrant souvent sur les dynamiques familiales et les vies intérieures de ses personnages. À travers son écriture, elle explore les complexités de l'existence humaine et trouve la beauté dans les moments quotidiens.
Growing up in St. Louis, Jodie Rattler's life takes a transformative turn after a fateful trip to the racetrack at age six. Her journey from a close-knit family to a successful singing career unfolds across vibrant locations, including New York City and Los Angeles. Amidst the glitz of the music world, she navigates the challenges of fame while seeking fulfillment beyond her professional achievements. Blending themes of chance, romance, and self-discovery, the narrative paints a vivid portrait of a woman's quest for identity in the midst of a tumultuous era.
Exploring a diverse array of literary influences, the essays reveal how Smiley weaves inspiration from notable authors like Dickens, Twain, and Alcott into her own narrative style. By examining the works of figures such as Marguerite de Navarre and Willa Cather, she highlights the enduring impact of literary history on contemporary writing, showcasing the connections between past and present narratives. This collection offers insights into the creative process and the interplay of tradition and innovation in literature.
From the beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning and best-selling author of A Thousand Acres: a rollicking murder mystery set in Gold Rush California, as two young prostitutes follow a trail of missing girls. Monterey, 1851. Ever since her husband was killed in a bar fight, Eliza Ripple has been working in a brothel. It seems like a better life, at least at first. The madam, Mrs. Parks, is kind, the men are (relatively) well behaved, and Eliza has attained what few women have: financial security. But when the dead bodies of young women start appearing outside of town, a darkness descends that she can't resist confronting. Side by side with her friend Jean, and inspired by her reading, especially by Edgar Allan Poe’s detective Dupin, Eliza pieces together an array of clues to try to catch the killer, all the while juggling clients who begin to seem more and more suspicious. Eliza and Jean are determined not just to survive, but to find their way in a lawless town on the fringes of the Wild West—a bewitching combination of beauty and danger—as what will become the Civil War looms on the horizon. As Mrs. Parks says, "Everyone knows that this is a dangerous business, but between you and me, being a woman is a dangerous business, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise ..."
From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley, The
Strays of Paris is a captivating story of three extraordinary animals - and
one little boy - whose lives cross paths in Paris. Paras is a spirited young
racehorse living in a stable in the French countryside. That is until one
afternoon, when she pushes open the gate of her stall and, travelling through
the night, arrives quite by chance in the dazzling streets of Paris. She soon
meets a German shorthaired pointer named Frida, two irrepressible ducks and an
opinionated crow, and life amongst the animals in the city's lush green spaces
is enjoyable for a time. But everything changes when Paras meets a human boy,
Etienne, and discovers a new, otherworldly part of Paris: the secluded, ivy-
walled house where the boy and his nearly-one-hundred-year-old great
grandmother live quietly and unto themselves. As the cold weather of Christmas
nears, the unlikeliest of friendships bloom among humans and animals alike.
But how long can a runaway horse live undiscovered in Paris? And how long can
one boy keep her all to himself? Charming and beguiling in equal measure, Jane
Smiley's novel celebrates the intrinsic need for friendship, love, and
freedom, whomever you may be . . .
Ellen is a spirited - and occasionally misbehaving - young horseback-riding
student. Ellen is only allowed to go to riding lessons when she behaves at
school and at home. Ellen has a knack for speaking out of turn in class, and
with a new sibling on the way, she can't resist taking advantage of her
parents' distraction...
1953. When a funeral brings the Langdon family together once more, they little realize how much, over the coming years, each of their worlds will shift and change. For now Walter and Rosanna's sons and daughters are grown up and have children of their own. Frank, the eldest - restless, unhappy - ignores his troubled wife and instead finds himself distracted by a face from the past. Lillian must watch as her brilliant, eccentric husband Arthur is destroyed by the guilt arising from his secretive government work. Claire, too, finds that marriage is not quite what she expected it to be. In Iowa where the Langdons began, Joe sees that some aspects of life on the farm never change, while others are unrecognizable. And though a few members of the family remain mired in the past, others will attempt to move beyond the lives they have always known; and some will push forward as never before. The dark shadow of the Vietnam War hangs over every one ... In sickness and health, through their best and darkest times, the Langdon family will live and love and suffer against the broad, merciless sweep of American history. Moving from the 1950s to the 1980s, Early Warning is epic storytelling at its most wise and compelling from a writer at the height of her powers.
When two young couples meet for the first time during the Great Depression,
they quickly find they have much in common: Charity Lang and Sally Morgan are
both pregnant, while their husbands Sid and Larry both have jobs in the
English department at the University of Wisconsin.
Abby Lovitt doesn't realize how unprepared she is when she takes her beloved horse, True Blue, to a clinic led by the most famous equestrian anyone knows. The biggest surprise, though, is that Sophia, the girl who never makes a mistake, suddenly makes so many that she stops riding. Who will ride her horse? Abby's dad seems to think it will be Abby. Pie in the Sky is the most expensive horse Abby has ever ridden. But he is proud and irritable, and he takes Abby's attention away from the continuing mystery that is True Blue. And then there's high school—Abby finds new friends, but also new challenges, and a larger world that sometimes seems strange and intimidating. She begins to wonder if there is another way to look at horses, people, and life itself. Accompanied by the beautiful imagery of 1960s Northern California, Abby's charming mix of innocence and wisdom guide us through Pulitzer Prize winner Jane Smiley's latest middle-grade horse novel.
As her husband's obsessions with science take a darker turn on the eve of World War II, Margaret Mayfield is forced to consider the life she has so carefully constructed. By the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Thousand Acres.
Début du XXe siècle. Dans leur ferme du Missouri, Matthew et Callie Soames élèvent leurs quatre filles, aux personnalités différentes mais au caractère bien trempé : Jessica leur brisera le cœur en s’enfuyant dès sa dix-huitième année, Leonie tombera amoureuse de l’homme dont il ne fallait pas s’amouracher, Mary Jo s’arrachera au cocon familial pour aller faire carrière à New York, et le destin de Mathy, l’enfant sauvage, se conclura par la plus terrible des tragédies. Ces années durant, malgré chagrins et déceptions, les Soames parviendront, malgré tout, à préserver les liens d’amour, qui forment le ciment même de leur famille.
A Pulitzer Prize winner makes her debut for young readers.Jane Smiley makes her debut for young readers in this stirring novel set on a California horse ranch in the 1960s. Seventh-grader Abby Lovitt has always been more at ease with horses than with people. Her father insists they call all the mares “Jewel” and all the geldings “George” and warns Abby not to get the horses are there to be sold. But with all the stress at school (the Big Four have turned against Abby and her friends) and home (her brother Danny is gone—for good, it seems—and now Daddy won’t speak his name), Abby seeks refuge with the Georges and the Jewels. But there’s one gelding on her family’s farm that gives her no end of the horse who won’t meet her gaze, the horse who bucks her right off every chance he gets, the horse her father makes her ride and train, every day. She calls him the Ornery George.
In the aftermath of the 2003 Academy Awards, Max and Elena- he's an Oscar-winning writer/director-open their Holywood Hills home to a group of friends and neighbors, industy insiders and hangers-on, eager to escape the outside world and dissect the latest news, gossip, and secrets of the business. Over the next ten days, old lovers collide, new relationships form, and sparks fly, all with Smiley's signature sparkling wit and characterization. With its breathtaking passion and sexy irreverence, Ten Days in the Hills is a glowing addition to the work of one of our most beloved novelists.
1982 : l'Amérique de Reagan s'éveille. Dans une petite ville à quatre-vingt-dix minutes de New York, un homme, la petite quarantaine avenante, mène une vie paisible. Joe Stratford est un agent immobilier consciencieux et très modérément ambitieux. Plutôt que de nourrir des désirs irréalisables dans le travail ou en amour, il préfère se laisser porter par la vie, regarder les autres prendre les devants. Un tel tempérament fait de lui la cible privilégiée de Marcus Burns, ex-agent du fisc reconverti en escroc, qui parvient, sans trop de mal, à le convaincre de se lancer dans une opération immobilière de grande envergure. Marcus a vu l'administration Reagan donner le coup d'envoi d'une véritable folie spéculative. Pas question d'être en reste. À l'entendre, la possibilité de s'enrichir très vite est à la portée de tous, l'Age d'Or est arrivé. Joe se demande pourtant s'il est taillé pour de telles aventures. Et si tomber dans les bras de Felicity, la fille (mariée) de son mentor et associé, ne va pas, tout autant, lui compliquer la vie... Impertinent, minutieux, ce roman ausculte avec beaucoup d'humour la séduction et l'illusion qui menèrent grand train dans les années quatre-vingt.
Maggie Tulliver rebels against the narrow Victorian morality and strict traditions of her family by eloping with a worthless dandy, in an edition of one of Eliot's finest novels, featuring a new afterword by Jane Smiley. Reissue.
Presents a collection of Viking "sagas" to commemorate the adventures of the people who first settled Iceland, and then explored Greenland and North America.
Set in the world of horse racing, this novel puts us amongst trainers, horse-obsessed girls, billionaire breeders and restless track wives, painting a picture of a world that is passionate, cold-hearted, pure and corrupt.
Plain, independent Lidie Harkness, impatient with the restrictions placed on women in mid-nineteenth century Illinois, jumps at the chance to marry New England abolitionist Thomas Newton and travel with him to the Kansas Territory where they embark on a dangerous quest to stop the spread of slavery.
Truly global in scope, [this book] goes beyond the Western tradition to assemble a richly diverse sampling of literature, historical documents, and fine art that offers significant coverage of Asian, African, and Native American civilizations. Chapter introductions by important scholars ... provide students with the background and enrichment they need.-Back cover.
Au milieu des champs de blé du Midwest américain, Moo University est dans un état de confusion : manque d'argent, intrigues et machinations, projets secrets, vaches folles... Jane Smiley a écrit une comédie de moeurs dans laquelle elle observe, avec une ironie désabusée, une communauté où les hommes et les femmes, les naïfs et les cyniques, les penseurs et les carriéristes vivent et travaillent ensemble dans un complet manque d'harmonie. Spirituelle et caustique, Jane Smiley se sert tendrement des personnages de ce microcosme pour critiquer la décennie 80-90, son manque de repères et son désir effréné de consommation.
The verdant pastures of a farm in Illinois have the placid charm of a landscape painting. But the horses that graze there have become the obsession of a woman who sees them as the fulfillment of every wish: to win, to be honored, to be the best. Her ambition is the galvanizing force in Jane Smiley's first novel, a force that will drive a wedge between her and her family, and bring them all to tragedy. Written with the grace and quiet beauty of her Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel, A Thousand Acres, Barn Blind is a spellbinding story on the classic American themes of work, love, and duty, and the excesses we commit to achieve success. "Chilling . . . Jane Smiley handles with skill and understanding the mercurial molasses of adolescence, and the inchoate, cumbersome love that family members feel for one another." -- The New York Times
Selected lectures from writers' conferences on the art and craft of finding and using artistic inspiration feature the works of Jane Smiley, Gary Snyder, Miroslav Holub, and Mary Clearman Blew.
While seventy-seven-year-old Ike Robison is on his deathbed, three generations of women--his wife, Anna, three middle-aged daughters, and granddaughter--reconcile their personal and family histories and claim their birthrights.
These two novellas, by the author of The Age of Grief and The Greenlanders reveal the intricate and often heart-breaking inner workings of families. Here a woman recalls the long ago affair that ended her relationship with her husband and changed their lives. And a man discovers that the carefully planned lifestyle he has chosen for his family incorporates unexpected consequences. Nominee for the National Book Critics Circle Award.
A successful Iowa farmer decides to divide his farm between his three daughters. When the youngest objects, she is cut out of his will. This sets off a chain of events that brings dark truths to light and explodes long-suppressed emotions. An ambitious reimagining of Shakespeare's King Lear cast upon a typical American community in the late twentieth century, A Thousand Acres takes on themes of truth, justice, love, and pride, and reveals the beautiful yet treacherous topography of humanity.
This stunning collection of five stories and one novella confirms Jane Smiley's place as one of the country's most gifted writers. Clear, elegant and filled with the unmistakable sound of real people going about real life, The Age of Grief is a true cause of celebration.
Pulitzer Prize winner and bestselling author Jane Smiley’s The Greenlanders is an enthralling novel in the epic tradition of the old Norse sagas. Set in the fourteenth century in Europe’s most far-flung outpost, a land of glittering fjords, blasting winds, sun-warmed meadows, and high, dark mountains, The Greenlanders is the story of one family–proud landowner Asgeir Gunnarsson; his daughter Margret, whose willful independence leads her into passionate adultery and exile; and his son Gunnar, whose quest for knowledge is at the compelling center of this unforgettable book. Jane Smiley takes us into this world of farmers, priests, and lawspeakers, of hunts and feasts and long-standing feuds, and by an act of literary magic, makes a remote time, place, and people not only real but dear to us.
L'appartement de Susan et Dennis est le port d'attache d'un groupe d'amis, tous originaires du Middle West, venus s'installer à New York dans les années 80 avec des rêves de gosses. Quatre d'entre eux forment un orchestre de rock, auteur d'un unique album. En arrivant, tous pensaient que la ville et la vie ne détruiraient pas leur solidarité et ils distribuaient des doubles des clés de l'appartement à quiconque avait besoin d'un toit. Un jour, Alice Ellis décida d'aller arroser les plantes en l'absence de Susan, partie seule en vacances. Tout est si calme qu'elle a du mal à réaliser que Dennis et Craig ne sont pas simplement endormis dans les fauteuils du salon, mais morts, une balle dans la tête. Jane Smiley a écrit un suspense passionnant mais aussi, comme dans ses autres livres, elle témoigne avec talent des haines, des secrets et des blessures qui renforcent la solitude de chacun.