This past weekend I finished reading Home by Marilynne Robinson. The story takes place in the small town of Gilead, Iowa during the late 1950s. Jack, a prodigal son, has returned home to his dying father and recently estranged younger sister, Glory. Confined together in their old home, the three of them make an excruciating attempt to reconcile family history. Jack struggles against his pattern of isolation, his father fights to understand and forgive his son, and Glory seeks to help them both while grieving over her own past and future. Each character wrestles with the complexity of such simple themes: kindness, forgiveness, shame, and grace. Robinson’s prose is precise and her themes belie a Presbyterian upbringing. I recommend it. And the take away: what is familiar can also be mysterious.
This past weekend I finished reading Home by Marilynne Robinson. The story takes place in the small town of Gilead, Iowa during the late 1950s. Jack, a prodigal son, has returned home to his dying father and recently estranged younger sister, Glory. Confined together in their old home, the three of them make an excruciating attempt to reconcile family history. Jack struggles against his pattern of isolation, his father fights to understand and forgive his son, and Glory seeks to help them both while grieving over her own past and future. Each character wrestles with the complexity of such simple themes: kindness, forgiveness, shame, and grace. Robinson’s prose is precise and her themes belie a Presbyterian upbringing. I recommend it. And the take away: what is familiar can also be mysterious.