‘Some Luck’: Readers of Smiley’s new book are the lucky ones

The title of Jane Smiley's new novel doesn't go far enough to describe the reader's experience. Reading 'Some Luck” (Knopf, 395 pages $26.95) is akin to hitting it big in a literary lottery. This first entry in a trilogy that will follow a family through 100 years is quietly dazzling.

'Some Luck” begins in 1920 and recounts the lives of the Langdons, an Iowa farm family. Each chapter of the book delineates a single year, and we are able to see the ways in which personality, tradition, change, and outside influences both local and global affect the lives of individuals as well as the entire clan.

The book's central character is Frank, who is born in the book's opening chapter ('He's like the trunk of the tree,” Smiley explained in an interview). Curious, driven, impervious to correction or impediment, Frank is a kind of mystery to his family, but also to himself. He doesn't always understand why he does what he does, but he is committed to charting his own path.

Frank may stand out as the book's primary figure, but Smiley's cast is large, and she takes us inside the head of each of her characters. We see them struggle to make sense of the world and of one another. Each seeks to find his or her own way, often while grappling with imponderables while trying to survive day-by-day.

Smiley's prose is beautiful, her insight into her characters is broad, and her empathy for each person's struggles is deep. She sets her story against the sweep of history without ever allowing her focus to waver from her central concerns. 'Some Luck” reinforces what we already know: Jane Smiley is one of our most brilliant authors.