SLCL Presents Pulitzer Prize-Winning Novelist and St. Louis Native Jane Smiley

St. Louis County Library Foundation’s Favorite Author Series and The Novel Neighbor present acclaimed, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jane Smiley for a discussion of “Lucky,” her first novel set in St. Louis in over 20 years. 

The event will take place on Thursday, April 25 at 7:00 p.m. at the Grant’s View Branch, 9700 Musick Rd., St. Louis MO, 63123.

The program is free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase at the event from The Novel Neighbor.

From the bestselling, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of “A Thousand Acres,” “Lucky” is a soaring, soulful novel about a folk musician who rises to fame across our changing times

Before Jodie Rattler became a star, she was a girl growing up in St. Louis. One day in 1955, when she was just six years old, her uncle Drew took her to the racetrack, where she got lucky—and that roll of two-dollar bills she won has never since left her side. Jodie thrived in the warmth of her extended family, and then—through a combination of hard work and serendipity—she started a singing career, which catapulted her from St. Louis to New York City, from the English countryside to the tropical beaches of St. Thomas, from Cleveland to Los Angeles, and back again. Jodie comes of age in recording studios, backstage, and on tour, and she tries to hold her own in the wake of Janis Joplin, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, and Joni Mitchell. Yet it feels like something is missing. Could it be true love? Or is that not actually what Jodie is looking for?

Full of atmosphere, shot through with longing and exuberance, romance and rock ‘n’ roll, “Lucky” is a story of chance and grit and the glitter of real talent, a colorful portrait of one woman’s journey in search of herself.

Jane Smiley is the author of numerous novels, including “A Thousand Acres,” which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, and the Last Hundred Years Trilogy: “Some Luck,” “Early Warning,” and “Golden Age.” She is the author of several works of nonfiction and books for young adults. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, she has also received the PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Award for Literature. 

Program sites are accessible. With at least two weeks' notice, accommodations will be made for persons with disabilities. Call 314-994-3300 or contact us.