65 pages 2 hours read

Jane Smiley

A Thousand Acres

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1991

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Book 6-EpilogueChapter Summaries & Analyses

Book 6, Chapter 42 Summary

Ginny makes a new life for herself in Minnesota working as a server. She enjoys making small talk with her patrons. She struggles to realize that this is her life now, viewing it instead as her afterlife. When she is not working, she reads and lounges around.

At Christmas, Ginny finally writes to Rose; Ginny also gives Rose her new address. Rose writes back and reveals that Larry died five days after the trial, suffering a heart attack while grocery shopping with Caroline. Rose did not attend the funeral. Rose and Ty split the farm up, and she and Jess are planning to grow organic produce on their half. Rose writes again in February to say that Jess has left her to go back to the West Coast. She later sends some paperwork for Ginny to sign over her shares of the farm, which she does. Ginny’s life continues in monotony.

Book 6, Chapter 43 Summary

Several years later, Ty comes to see Ginny at work on her birthday. She gives him breakfast, and they agree to meet up for lunch. At lunch, Ty reveals he is going to Texas to look for work. Marv Carson would not give him a loan for his crops this year, and many other farmers are losing their farms.