From Publishers Weekly
After her long novel The Greenlanders , Smiley returns to the novella form of the masterly The Age of Grief , and this double bill exhibits her finely honed talent in impeccable form. In both stories Smiley movingly illustrates the price children pay for their parents' mistakes. The ironic title of the first novella refers to the desire of its protagonist, a 50-year-old mother of five, to pretend that her relationship to her grown children is an "ordinary" one. But she forfeited that right 20 years ago when she announced her extramarital affair: her husband whisked their young children off to Europe, keeping the youngsters away from her for many years. Now, on a weekend of family reunion, she realizes how much they have all been damaged; that they, as well as she, will always "have the settled darkness of expectation." The leisurely unfolding of the narrative, its quotidian details mixed with flashes of revelation, provides a grave, heart-wrenching credibility. In the second tale, a man who is self-righteously proud that he, his wife and seven-year-old son pursue a self-sufficient, exaggeratedly simple lifestyle, on an organic farm isolated from the general culture, learns too late that his son is a victim of his obsession. Wise, powerful and resonantly memorable, these stories are sure to be classics. Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Here are two memorable novellas--complete, evocative worlds in miniature--by the author of The Greenlanders ( LJ 4/15/88). In "Ordinary Love," a mother explores her tentative relationship with her five grown children on the return of one of her twin boys from two years in India. After she reveals to them information about the brief affair that caused the collapse of her marriage to their father 20 years earlier, and her loss of custody, they tell heartbreaking details of their years without her. "Good Will" is a powerhouse: the careful, totally "organic" lifestyle of a rural couple disintegrates before their eyes when their seven-year-old son confronts the "real world" at school, with anguishing results. Remarkable work; Smiley is a genuine, first-rate talent.- Ann H. Fisher, Radford P.L., Va.Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book Description
"Smiley's stories lucidly explore the complexities of contemporary sexual and dometic life...the emotional and moral complexity that she uncovers in the characters of these resonant novellas confirms Jane Smiley's singular talent. ORDINARY LOVE AND GOOD WILL is an extraordinary achievement."
THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD
ORDINARY LOVE
At a reunion with her grown children, a woman recalls the long-ago affair that ended her relationship with their father--and changed all their lives irrevoccably.
GOOD WILL
Despite the carefully self-sufficient life he has designed for his small family, a man discovers that even the right choices have unexpected consequences--sometimes heart-breaking ones.



From the Publisher
"Good Will" is by far my favorite short story. Telling the story of a man moving his family to a farm in search of simplicity, Jane Smiley creates a sharp examination of human nature, culminating in a devastating last scene that I will never forget.


From the Inside Flap
"Smiley's stories lucidly explore the complexities of contemporary sexual and dometic life...the emotional and moral complexity that she uncovers in the characters of these resonant novellas confirms Jane Smiley's singular talent. ORDINARY LOVE AND GOOD WILL is an extraordinary achievement."
THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD
ORDINARY LOVE
At a reunion with her grown children, a woman recalls the long-ago affair that ended her relationship with their father--and changed all their lives irrevoccably.
GOOD WILL
Despite the carefully self-sufficient life he has designed for his small family, a man discovers that even the right choices have unexpected consequences--sometimes heart-breaking ones.

ANNOTATION

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.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"The emotional and moral complexity that [Jane Smiley] uncovers in the characters of these resonant novellas confirms [her] singular talent. ORDINARY LOVE & GOOD WILL is an extraordinary achievement."
THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD
ORDINARY LOVE
At a reunion with her grown children, a woman recalls the long-ago affair that ended her relationship with their father—and changed all their lives irrevocably.
GOOD WILL
Despite the carefully self-sufficient life he has designed for his small family, a man discovers that even the right choices have unexpected consequences—sometimes heart-breaking ones.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Two novellas demonstrate the price children often pay for their parents' mistakes: in Ordinary Love , a father divides his family after his wife announces her extramarital affair, while in Good Will a boy is the victim of his father's obsession to maintain an exaggeratedly simple, self-sufficient lifestyle. ``Wise, powerful and resonantly memorable, these stories are sure to be classics,'' applauded PW . (Feb.)

Library Journal