Finished: Golden Age (Smiley) The third book in the wonderfully written trilogy about the Langdon family, the farming family from Iowa, whose saga began in 1920 in the first book, and moves 100 years, to the end of 2019 in this final book. In the first book, Some Luck, Rosanna and Walter Langdon buy a farm and build it into a worthy, workable place in Denby, Iowa. They have their children there, and we meet each one as they are born, getting to know them as they grow into young adults. In the second book, Early Warning, which opens in 1953, Walter Langdon has just died, and we see which of his children stays behind to take over the farm, and follow the lives of the others as they make their own way, some with spouses and children, some not. Each chapter in both books takes place during one year as we follow these people who we know so well:  Frank, the oldest son; Joe, the second son; Lillian, the beloved daughter; Henry, the youngest son; and Claire, the baby of the family. Other than Henry, who is gay, each one has married and had children by the end of the second book. That generation of Langdons becomes the focus of the third book, which begins in 1987, as the five Langdon siblings grow old and pass away, one by one, except for Claire, the last of the siblings left alive in 2019. It's so sad to see those characters go, and the two spouses we came to know and couldn't help but care for, Frank's wife Andy, and Lillian's husband, Arthur, who are both very powerful presences in their children's and grandchildren's lives. As a matter of fact, Andy, in her late nineties, is the last character who we love to love who passes away in the last book, and her peaceful death marks the end of the book and the trilogy.

I can't possibly go into all the detail of all the characters in the book. It's hard enough keeping them straight while reading. Thankfully, there's a family tree in the front of the book. :-) However, I will say that we do see the good times and the  hardships of each of the family members as the country goes through the oil boom and stock markets, the recessions and scandals, the political and housing market upheavals, the mortgage and finance company affects on the farmers, the constant arguments about global warming, the conflicts in the middle east, 911, and finally the very current political situation, and a couple of years beyond. Interestingly, not all of the characters are focused on. For instance, Lillian and Arthur's daughter, Debbie, who has figured prominently in the last book and this one, has two siblings who are barely mentioned and two children who never get a story. However, all three of Frank's children, Janet, Michael and Richie get the brunt of the story. Henry, has a big part of the story as well...possibly the biggest part for one of the remaining original Langdon siblings. Debbie's older brother, Tim, who was killed right after enlisting in the last novel, has a son, Charlie, who no one knew existed because he impregnated his teenage girlfriend before leaving to enlist. Charlie becomes a beacon of light and everyone in the family loves him. He's incorporated into the family quickly, and marries a feisty proponent of global warming who refuses to have a child until they can make the world a better place. Tragically, and I mean my gut sank. Charlie is killed on the airplane that crashed into the Pentagon on 911. :-( He had just decided to fly out to California to meet his birth mother for the very first time, but of course, never makes it. It turns out, a devastated Riley IS pregnant, and she gives birth to daughter Alexis. Henry who had grown very attached to his nephew, becomes the surrogate father figure for Alexis, and he and Riley and Alexis form a wonderful bond. After Joe, the second Langdon son who had stayed to run the farm, dies, his own son, Jesse and his wife, Jen, take over. They do so naturally, as they love the life and living on the farm. Their own children, however, Guthrie, Perky and Felicity, have no interest whatsoever in taking over the farm one day. Guthrie enlists and is tossed into the Gulf War. He's another character you grow to love and it's heartbreaking to watch him go through PTSD and never quite get his life together until it is one day taken by a group of teenage boys who rob him for the $100 he has in his wallet when he is 34 years old. Perky also enlists and he thrives in the environment, becoming a career soldier. Felicity, the smart, practical one in the family, stays in constant touch with her parents, but goes on to be a micro-biologist, worrying about issues in the country, and eventually finding a male version of herself to marry, Ezra. The underlying main story line is that of Frank and Andy's twins, Michael and Richie. Michael exhibits no moral compass at all, yet has three children with Loretta. He makes money off of other people's backs by being one of those ponzi scheme type investors. He even illegally signs over his own mother's millions to himself and "invests" her money as well. Of course, he loses it all and leaves everyone broke! His own mother, his own sister, Janet, whose husband subsequently leaves rather than kills himself, leaving her to continue raising their two children, Emily and Jonah, and countless others. Despicably, Michael had been socking away money in a foreign account, so he actually comes out of the mess with thirty million dollars, NONE of which he shares with his sister, mother, or anyone else he helped to ruin. He's also not prosecuted. Richie, who is the older twin, but who has somehow always lived in Michael's shadow, and been intimidated by Michael, becomes an amiable, yet fairly worthless, congressman who keeps getting re-elected because there's no one better to take his place. His wife leaves him a few years after their son Leo is born, but we do get to see snippets of Leo growing up. Anyway, even as I write this it sounds so jumbled. Too many details and relationships to get it all down right. There's story about Janet's daughter, Emily and Michael's son, Chance, who both go off to do their own thing involving horses! Towards the end of the book, Michael creates a secret investment company and buys the mortgage to the old farm...the family farm...the one that Jesse now runs...the one that Jesse's father and Frank's brother, Joe, took over when no one else wanted to stay. Michael has always resented that his father, Frank, just gave away his share of the farm to Jesse once Joe passed away...more than he left for any of his own children when he himself died. (Oh yeah...Frank was, rather appropriately I think....struck dead by lightening when he got out of a turboprop airplane in the middle of terrible storm to urinate by the side of the runway, lol.) Anyway, in his last despicable act, even though Jesse and Jen don't miss a payment on their new mortgage, bought from their bank by this new company, Michael's secret company forecloses on them and forces them to sell the farm that has been in the family for nearly a hundred years. :-( He's so horrible! Richie, who has made excuses for much of Michael's behavior in the past, cannot stand it when he finds out Michael owns the company. We never know for sure if Richie is just dreaming or what, but he vividly recalls getting in his car one night and driving to the drug store, but seeing Michael on the road and running him down, killing him! The next day there is no dent in his car, or no blood, clothing or hair in the car grille, but the police do come to the door to inform him that his brother, Michael, was the victim of a hit and run the night before! Maybe it was a just a twin thing, but finally Micheal is gone from the earth. On and on I could write, but instead, I think I'll just reflect on the characters that I liked and will miss, and the beautiful writing of Jane Smiley! :-)