Published: 2004, virago
Genre: fiction
Themes: family, faith, theology, love, old age, approach of death
My rating (out of 5): ❤❤❤❤❤
Gilead is the first of a quartet of novels, all giving accounts of the same story during the same period of time from the perspectives of the four key characters. They are written from the vantage point of Marilynne Robinson's extraordinary wisdom, that covers not only religious texts, but the inner workings of human conscience. These books are crafted so carefully that I felt as though each word had been weighed and considered before finally being set down on the page.
These are quiet books that should be given time and space to appreciate the writing. Even the smallest observations slowly build images and emotions that explain, not only the thinking of the characters, but how we view the world ourselves. Any of the books may be read in isolation, and in any order, but I really think you would benefit from reading Gilead and Home before starting Lila or Jack otherwise you will not have the core story to refer back to.
Gilead is a fictional autobiography written by the Reverend John Ames, and it takes the form of an extended letter from an aging father to a young son in order to pass on a father's wisdom before he dies. Ames married for the second time after meeting a much younger woman in later life and his son, Robby, is his only child. When he met Robert's mother Lila, John Ames had resigned himself to ending his life alone and had settled into a routine centred around his church and parishioners. At the time of writing the piece for his son he was 76 years old and had lived in Gilead his whole life, with the exception of just a couple of years studying at college and the seminary.
Ames is a Congregationalist pastor in the town of Gilead, Iowa, and his lifelong friend is the Reverend Boughton, who lives within walking distance and preaches at another church in the town. The two men enjoy nothing better than debating the finer theological points of American Protestantism, and apply their knowledge to every area of their lives. Ames' first wife died in childbirth leaving him with no children, but Boughton and his wife raised a family of eight, who have mostly grown up as he would have wanted them to, with the glaring exception of Jack who has bought home more problems than the rest of the family put together.
Ames met his second wife, Lila, when she stepped inside his church to shelter from the rain. At that time Lila was alone and homeless and had been wandering the roads and sleeping anywhere she could find. After a period of time when Ames provided pastoral assistance to Lila, their relationship grew into love, and to the surprise of the local townspeople, their pastor took a second wife.
Lila has little formal education but she is intelligent and thinks deeply about spiritual matters, and much of the book relates to how she adapts to her new life surrounded by such academic people. She makes a friend in Boughton's daughter Glory, and the two women support one another through their family difficulties. Glory's marriage has failed and she has returned home to care for her aging father and provide comfort to him as he endeavors to make sense of why his son Jack lives such a reckless life. Jack never behaved as one of the family, even as a child, and over the years he has been in trouble with the police over petty thieving and drunkenness.
So, those are the four characters that feature in the books: The Reverend John Ames; The Reverend Boughton, Lila and Jack. Each book is an amplification of the others and their stories told with such empathy that it makes it difficult for the reader to pass judgement on even the worst behaviour. The theological references bring the insight of a good sermon to the text and we cannot help but benefit from having read the book.
This book was the winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
See also my reviews on the other books in the Gilead quartet:
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