Book review: 'Some Luck,' by Jane Smiley

" Some Luck ," the engaging first volume of Jane Smiley's planned trilogy, is a sweeping story that spans 33 years, three continents and a generation of children on an Iowa farm. Over the course of the novel -- already longlisted for the National Book Award -- most of the children will leave the farm just as surely as the rest of the white rural Midwest will pack its bags. Smiley delivers a straightforward, old-fashioned tale of rural family life in changing times. Her no-muss, no-fuss storytell...