Rose and Ginny live on their father’s land, while Caroline lives in the city of Des Moines. Ginny is married to Ty, a farmer, Rose is married to Pete, a musician from another state, and Caroline, the only one of the three daughters who attended college, is soon to be married to Frank.
Rated: High for language, language, language. 15+ uses of strong language, 20+ uses of moderate language and all kinds of mild language. There are also mildly graphic discussions about parental sexual abuse and two moderately graphic sexual scenes.Larry Cook is a prominent Midwestern farmer with three daughters, Ginny (the eldest, and the narrator of the novel), Rose, and Caroline, the youngest. I wish the language hadn’t been quite so graphic because I would’ve felt more comfortable, then, recommending this story to friends who would appreciate its painful depth and vague yet present redemption. It’s hard for me to pinpoint WHY I liked it - it’s depressing and most of the characters are just not nice at all. I think it was the graceful and poignant style, the threads of emerging environmentalism, and, for some reason (I did love King Lear also), I think stories about fathers and their daughters are just interesting. Whatever the reason, I did like the meat of this book, as hard as it was sometimes to read. Ginny is a powerful narrator in the sense that her emotions are so raw, her revelations (both to us and to herself) so succinct and powerful - I ached for her loss while I felt embarrassed for her weakness, perhaps because I saw in myself the same tendency to overlook things just to keep the peace.Īs a painful family drama, this book is beautifully written: a harsh picture of a family falling to pieces in grand King Lear style. As a vital part of everyone’s life - especially for Ginny, her sister Rose and their husbands - the farm is a blessing and a millstone and is both the impetus and the excuse for so many decisions. But it is Larry especially whose choices and influence served to dig the well of hurt that not one of them were able to avoid drinking from.
The farm itself as a character is palpable. Our narrator, the eldest daughter Ginny, tells us what follows, a downward spiral of failed expectations, misunderstandings, jealousy and flat-out insanity. While life isn’t perfect, it is routine and familiar - until the day that Larry decides to give his farm to his children as an inheritance.
In Iowa there is a family farm owned by a man named Larry Cook, who has three grown daughters.
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