Gilead (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Marilynne Robinson
- First Published: 2004
- Type of Work: Novel
- Time of Work: 1956-1957
- Setting: Gilead, Iowa
- Principal Characters: The Reverend John Ames, Lila Ames, Ames's son, Old Reverend Boughton, John Ames Boughton
- Genres: Long fiction
- Subjects: 1950’s, United States or Americans, Parents and children, Love or romance, Midwest, Ministry or ministers, Fathers, Letter writing, Loneliness, Clergy, Letters, Life and death, Iowa
- Locales: Iowa
In Gilead, Marilynne Robinson's second novel, the Reverend John Ames writes to his young son to give him a sense of his deep family history and the father he will never really know. Gilead's letters reveal John's lifelong pursuit of personal integrity in his religious life and personal relationships, and they are filled with exclamations of love for his wife and son. The book has no formal chapter breaks, and the “letters” are separated only by spaces inserted in the text when the subject being covered comes to closure or Ames decides to ponder something else. For some...
[The entire page is 2060 words long]
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