Early warning. Jane Smiley. 2015.

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 elspdest - 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 Langdon began, Joe sees that some aspects of life on the farm never change, while others are unrecognisable. 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 everyone……..