I guess that the fact that this novel was written by a woman helps the narrator, Ginny, seem more believable and realistic. Ginny presents many issues that are stereotypically associated with femininity: for instance, we learn about her frustration for not being able to bear children of her own and her need to look for others in such a maternal manner. It wouldn’t be impossible for male author to develop these character traits thoroughly, but it may be easier for a female writer to convey these and other issues relating to womanhood because she could approach such themes with a level of proximity and relatability that men can barely fathom. Jane Smiley might have not lived such experiences herself, but her inherent ability to understand the struggles of women and adopt them as if they were here own allows her to depict female characters and their struggles reliably and three-dimensionally. Furthermore, she develops these femininity-related topics from the perspective of three different women, which adds more layers of complexity to the way she depicts women in her novel.
I like how this novel presents the final explosion of family conflict that had been developing for many years. How the Crooks managed to get along for many years hiding the rising tension that was accumulating in the family is beyond my understanding. Evidently, as readers, we only get to know what was going on gradually and from the perspective of Ginny, which is heavily biased, but there was a lot of hidden chaos that only became apparent after Larry Crook decided to give her farm to his daughters before his passing. The Crook family manage to prevent itself from falling apart despite its hiding of grief, fear, trauma, and incest. I haven’t finished the novel yet, but I really enjoy how it finally unveils these issues and reveals their consequences. 
-Esteban Rojas

A Thousand Acres