Authors: Jane Smiley
ALSO BY JANE SMILEY
Fiction
Some Luck
Private Life
Ten Days in the Hills
Good Faith
Horse Heaven
The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton
Moo
A Thousand Acres
Ordinary Love and Good Will
The Greenlanders
The Age of Grief
Duplicate Keys
At Paradise Gate
Barn Blind
Nonfiction
The Man Who Invented the Computer
Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel
A Year at the Races
Charles Dickens
Catskill Crafts
For Young Adults
Gee Whiz
Pie in the Sky
True Blue
A Good Horse
The Georges and the Jewels
THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK
PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF
Copyright © 2015 by Jane Smiley
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York, and in Canada by Random House of Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Ltd., Toronto.
Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
    Smiley, Jane.
      Early warning : a novel / Jane Smiley. â First edition.
          pages ; cm
     Â
ISBN
978-0-307-70032-2 (hardcover : acid-free paper)â
     Â
ISBN
978-0-385-35243-7 (eBook)
          1. Rural familiesâIowaâFiction. 2. Social changeâUnited StatesâHistoryâ20th centuryâFiction. 3. Domestic fiction.
      I. Title.
     Â
PS
3569.
M
39
E
27 2015
      813â².54âdc23
2014041395
eBook ISBNâ9780385352437
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover photograph © Harpur Garden Library/Corbis
Cover design by Kelly Blair
v4.1_r2
a
This trilogy is dedicated to John Whiston,
Bill Silag, Steve Mortensen, and Jack Canning,
with many thanks for decades of patience, laughter,
insight, information, and assistance.
The Langdons
Walter Langdon (1895)
Wilmer LangdonâWalter's father
Elizabeth ChickâWalter's mother
Ruth Cheek and Lester ChickâWalter's maternal grandparents
Etta Cheekâmother of Ruth Cheek
Lester and HowardâWalter's brothers
Rosanna Vogel Langdon (1900)â
Walter's wife
Otto VogelâRosanna's father
Mary AugsbergerâRosanna's mother
Charlotta KleinfelderâOtto's mother
Herman
n
and Augustina Augsberger (“Opa” and “Oma”)âRosanna's maternal grandparents
Rolf, Eloise, John, Gus, and KurtâRosanna's siblings
Julius SilberâEloise's husband
RosaâEloise and Julius's daughter
Elton JackmanâRosa's first husband, Lacey's father
LaceyâRosa and Elton's daughter
RossâEloise's second husband
SheliaâJohn's wife
Gary, Buddy, JimmyâJohn and Sheila's sons
AngelaâGus's wife
Francis “Frank” Langdon
âfirst child of Walter and Rosanna
Hildegarde Andrea Bergstrom “Andy”âFrank's wife
JanetâFrank and Andy's eldest daughter
Jared NelsonâJanet's husband
EmilyâJanet and Jared's daughter
Richard “Richie”
and
MichaelâFrank and Andy's twin sons
IvyâRichie's wife
Loretta PerroniâMichael's wife
Chance, Tia, Beatrice “Binky”âMichael and Loretta's children
Joseph “Joe” Langdon
âsecond child of Walter and Rosanna
Lois FrederickâJoe's wife
Roland and Lorena FrederickâLois's parents
MinnieâLois's sister
Ann “Annie” and Joseph “Jesse”âJoe and Lois's children
Jennifer GuthrieâJesse's wife
Joseph “Guthrie” and Franklin Perkins “Perky”âJesse and Jennifer's sons
Mary Elizabeth Langdon
âthird child of Walter and Rosanna
Lillian Elizabeth Langdon
âfourth child of Walter and Rosanna
Arthur Brinks ManningâLillian's husband
Sarah Cole DeRocher and Colonel Brinks ManningâArthur's parents
Timothy “Timmy,” Deborah “Debbie,” Dean Henry, and Christina Eloise “Tina”âLillian and
Arthur's children
HughâDebbie's husband
Carlie and Kevin “Kevvie”âDebbie and Hugh's children
LindaâDean's wife
EricâDean and Linda's son
Henry
âfifth child of Walter and Rosanna
Claire
âsixth child of Walter and Rosanna
Paul DarnellâClaire's husband
Grayson and BradleyâClaire and Paul's sons