Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

I read most of the Pulitzer winning novels at one point or another.  It seems like a safe buck spent.  I was wondering how I’d react to this novel, what with its religious focus.

I needn’t have worried.  The novel is structured as a series of letters from an ailing father to his son.  The speaker, a preacher, knows he is dying, and wants to leave some piece of himself for his young son.   So he writes about falling in love with his much-younger wife and her role in their community; about his relationship with his father and grandfather–two preachers whose styles couldn’t have been more different; his brother; his godson and his child.  It’s beautifully written.  The novel delves into questions of faith, race relations, class, parental love, ethics–but it does all of that while maintaining a sense of gentle, intimate conversation.  It’s a gem of a book.  I’m sure I’ll read it again.

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