In 1980, Marilynne Robinson drew the devotion of readers with her debut novel, Housekeeping, a book that won the PEN/Hemingway Award and has become a modern classic. In 2004, her second novel, Gilead, was published to critical acclaim and won both the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Now, Marilynne Robinson has written her third stunning novel - Home.
Set in the rural town of Gilead, Iowa, in 1961, Homeis the story of the Boughton family, of the aged Reverend Boughton and of his middle-aged daughter, Glory, who returns to the family home to care for her elderly father after a failed engagement. But it is also the story of Jack Boughton, a troubled but brilliant son and brother, estranged from the family for 20 years. Looking for refuge from a secret he won t reveal, by turns distant and compassionate, Jack has returned as well. Caught between the betrayals of the past, hopes for the future, and the mingling of love and resentment in the present, these three characters explore all that it means to come home.
Home reflects the story of Reverend John Ames as told in Gilead, and the two novels complement each other, but like good neighbours they also stand apart. Marilynne Robinson has produced another masterwork, a rich and moving novel that is both tender and healing.