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Synopses & Reviews
Marilynne Robinson's mythical world of Gilead, Iowa — the setting of her novels
Gilead,
Home, and
Lila, and now
Jack — and its beloved characters have illuminated and
interrogated the complexities of American history, the power of our
emotions, and the wonders of a sacred world.
Jack is Robinson's fourth novel in this now-classic series. In
it, Robinson tells the story of John Ames Boughton, the prodigal son of
Gilead's Presbyterian minister, and his romance with Della Miles, a high
school teacher who is also the child of a preacher. Their deeply felt,
tormented, star-crossed interracial romance resonates with all the
paradoxes of American life, then and now.
Review
"The story flows swiftly — and without a hint of inevitability — as
Robinson explores a favorite theme, 'guilt and grace met together.' [P]roof of the thesis that love conquers all — but not
without considerable pain." Kirkus (Starred Review)
Review
"Myriad manifestations of
pain are evoked, but here, too, are beauty, mystery, and joy as Robinson
holds us rapt with the exactitude of her perceptions and the
exhilaration of her hymnal cadence..." Booklist (Starred Review)
Review
"Robinson's stellar,
revelatory fourth entry in her Gilead cycle...is a beautiful,
superbly crafted meditation on the redemption and transcendence that
love affords." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
About the Author
Marilynne Robinson is
the recipient of a 2012 National Humanities Medal, awarded by President
Barack Obama, for her grace and intelligence in writing. She is the
author of
Gilead, winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award;
Home, winner of the Orange Prize and the
Los Angeles Times Book Prize; and
Lila, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award. Her first novel,
Housekeeping, won the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award. Robinson's nonfiction books include
The Givenness of Things,
When I Was a Child I Read Books,
Absence of Mind, The Death of Adam, and
Mother Country. She lives in Iowa City, Iowa.