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A Thousand Acres (1997): Film vs Book
Film · 1997 · Directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse · Starring Jessica Lange, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jennifer Jason Leigh
About the film
Three sisters and their farm-owning father in the American Midwest face a division of the land and the secrets of the past.
How close is it to the book?
Loosely based on the bookThe film changes the story's emphasis and shortens its history, and it spends more time on the family's drama than the book's land and money.
Read or watch first?
The novel is richer and darker, and it is a retelling of a famous play.
What the book gives you
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
A powerful, absorbing story of family, land and what is passed down.
Who will like it: Readers who like family dramas set on a big Iowa farm.