Good Faith

Joe Stratford, who sells nice houses in a beautiful place, and whose not very amicable divorce is over, is ready for his life to begin again. It is 1982, morning in America, and temptation is everywhere. And, as Marcus Burns (Joe's new friend from New York) says, the old rules are ready to be broken. Marcus should know: he's just quit his job with the tax man. But are his ideas about how to get rich - really rich - too big and risky for Joe? And what about the real estate development at Salt Key Farm: why is the local savings and loan so eager to lend Marcus and Joe the money for its asking price? And there's Felicity - the daughter of Joe's business partner - who has finally confessed how fond she is of Joe. But, Joe wonders, is this winning, free-spirited (already married) woman really the one he's been waiting for? 'Smiley's superb novel does for estate agency what The West Wing does for politics - make it, against the odds, enthralling and sexy . . . Good Faith has some wonderfully funny characters and is wise and touching.' Mail on Sunday 'Wonderful . . . With the skill, wit and wisdom that were in evidence in her previous bestsellers Moo and A Thousand Acres, Smiley brings us an absorbing tale about the perils of pursuing your dream.' Red Magazine (Must-Read of the Month) 'Only a writer of consummate craftsmanship and scope could write a novel about a series of real estate deals in a small town an hour and a half from New York City and make it so fully satisfying as to be thrilling. Jane Smiley has done it.' Los Angeles Times

Jane Smiley was born in Los Angeles and grew up in St Louis, Missouri. In 1992 she won the Pulitzer Prize for A Thousand Acres, for which she also won the National Book Critics' Circle Award. Her other novels include Moo (1995), Horse Heaven (2000), which was shortlisted for the Orange Prize, Good Faith (2003) and Ten Days in the Hills (2007). Her most recent novel is Private Life (2010). In 2006 Jane Smiley was awarded the PEN Lifetime Achievement Award for Literature.