Early Warning

2.  In Early Warning‘s first scene, the family is gathered for the funeral of Walter, who died at the end of Some Luck. How does this reunion establish the dynamics among the present family members as well as bridge the gap between the two books? How is Walter’s presence felt throughout the scene and by each of his five children and his wife, Rosanna?

3. How is the secrecy behind Frank and Arthur’s relationship, personal and professional, conveyed throughout the novel? Do you think that either of them can ever fully know the other’s true motives or responsibilities, given their personalities and the political climate of this time period? Why or why not?

4. How does Smiley capture the tensions of the postwar era during the first half of the novel, politically and socially, in the United States and internationally?

5. Why does Andy have such misgivings toward her children and role as a mother? Does this aspect of her character change during the course of the book as Janet, Michael, and Richie grow up?

6. What are the different kinds of parenting portrayed in the book? How do parenting methods and attitudes change over time and between generations of mothers and fathers? What if anything struck you in particular about how this next generation of Langdons raises their children?

  7.  How does a farmer’s sense of responsibility, impending doom, and preparedness get passed on from generation to generation among the farmers in this novel? Does being cautious and expectant of the “many things [that] could go wrong” on a farm help the land in Denby, and those who are tilling it, flourish (this page)?

8. Describe the bond between Henry and Claire. Besides their proximity in age, what about this set of siblings’ personalities and lifestyles makes them so close?

9. How do Andy’s therapy sessions reveal to the reader, and to her, certain parts of her past that she’s kept hidden? What do the various doctors and techniques she tries say about psychiatry and its parallel practices during the 1950s, including in the context of the more liberal ideas of sex during that time period?

10. How do the secrets and burdens of Arthur’s job manifest themselves in his decisions and relationship with his family, especially Lillian? In what ways does he embody the paranoia of the Cold War period? Are his fears even greater than the average American’s during this time?

11. Despite Janet’s antagonism toward her mother, what do she and Andy have in common? Do either of them acknowledge these overlaps in their dreams, fears, and ideas about motherhood? Do their attitudes toward one another change over the course of the novel?

12. What do we learn about Fiona in the scene where she rides her horse bareback? What is it that draws Debbie and Tim alike so strongly to her?

13. Are the twins, Richie and Michael, more enemies or accomplices? How does the trouble they get into from the time they’re very young demonstrate their respective personalities and characters, as well as their complicated feelings for each other?

14. What do you think motivates Frank to betray his wife and hold himself at a distance from his family? What about Lydia Forêt makes her deserve being called the “love of his life”? What did you make of Andy’s reaction to discovering Frank’s infidelities?

15. What do you think the title of the book, Early Warning, means? How is it relevant to the events and general atmosphere of this novel and to what may be to come in the third volume of Smiley’s trilogy?

16. How does Rosanna, the matriarch of the Langdon family, stay connected to her children as they grow up in a new age while also holding fast to her values from the more distant past? How do those past values conflict with various developments in politics and other social changes in her present?

17. ‌How does Smiley use Tim’s brief time in Vietnam to lend specificity to the way the war was fought, from the setting to the interactions among the men to their understanding of their goals there? In what ways does Lillian’s sense that “he would manifest again” after his death come true?

18. What are the differences between the military experiences of Tim, Michael, and Richie? How do these also compare with what you know from Some Luck, or heard retold in Early Warning, about Frank’s and Walter’s military service?

19. Describe the diaspora among the younger Langdons. What takes some of them away from Iowa and what makes others, like Joe and Jesse, stay? What events and emotions consistently bring them back together, and what does this say about the pull of home in general in a family?

20. What do Henry’s romantic interests — from his cousin Rosa to Basil and Philip — reveal about his character and the times in which he came of age?