Updike’s seventeenth novel traces the lives of four generations of a typical American family, the Wilmots. In four separate but carefully interwoven sections, the novelist relates the stories of Clarence Wilmot, a minister in Paterson, New Jersey, who loses his faith and is forced to eke out a living as a salesman; Teddy, his youngest child, who shuns all chance at notoriety and lives quietly as a postal carrier in Delaware; Esther, Clarence’s daughter, whose life is transformed when she embarks on a film career; and Clark, Esther’s son, who shuns the Hollywood lifestyle of his mother only to take up with a religious fanatic and die in a bloody shootout with federal authorities.

The Wilmot’s story provides the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelists a chance to delve into subjects which have been of perennial interest to him and to his readers: the loss of religious faith in America, the pervasive power of motion pictures to influence both directly and indirectly the culture at large, and the enduring questions every person faces regarding choices of career and life partner. In the course of telling his story, Updike introduces a number of supporting characters who flesh out the American scene and provide yardsticks against which the successes and failures of his principal characters may be measured.

In addition to being a first-rate “chronicle novel,” IN THE BEAUTY OF THE LILIES ia a tour de force of fine writing. Updike’s skillful handling of language and his keen eye for detail merge to form one of the most evocative and nostalgic looks at the American scene as it has evolved over the turbulent twentieth century.

Bibliography

Bloom, Harold, ed. John Updike: Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House, 1987. A wide-ranging assortment of essays by important critics assessing various aspects of Updike’s work.

The Christian Century. CXIII, April 24, 1996, p. 452. A review of In the Beauty of the Lilies.

Commentary. CI, April, 1996, p. 64. A review of In the Beauty of the Lilies.

The Economist. CCCXXXVIII, February 24, 1996, p. 89. A review of In the Beauty of the Lilies.

Greiner, Donald J. Adultery in the American Novel: Updike, James, and Hawthorne. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1985. Explores the Updike- Hawthorne connection in regard to the theme of adultery.

London Review of Books. XVIII, March 21, 1996, p. 23. A review of In the Beauty of the Lilies.

Los Angeles Times Book Review. January 28, 1996, p. 3. A review of In the Beauty of the Lilies.

Maclean’s. CIX, February 26, 1996, p. 70. A review of In the Beauty of the Lilies.

The Nation. CCLXII, February 12, 1996, p. 25. A review of In the Beauty of the Lilies.

National Review. XLVIII, February 26, 1996, p. 63. A review of In the Beauty of the Lilies.

New Leader. LXXVIII, December 18, 1995, p. 27. A review of In the Beauty of the Lilies.

The New Republic. CCXIV, May 27, 1996, p. 29. A review of In the Beauty of the Lilies.

New Statesman and Society. IX, May 3, 1996, p. 37. A review of In the Beauty of the Lilies.

New York. XXIX, January 15, 1996, p. 52. A review of In the Beauty of the Lilies.

The New York Review of Books. XLIII, February 29, 1996, p. 4. A review of In the Beauty of the Lilies.

The New York Times Book Review. CI, January 28, 1996, p. 9. A review of In the Beauty of the Lilies.

The New Yorker. LXXII, March 11, 1996, p. 105. A review of In the Beauty of the Lilies.

Plath, James, ed. Conversations with John Updike. Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 1994. Updike discusses various concerns raised by his work.

Schiff, James A. John Updike Revisited. New York: Twayne, 1998. A brief, readable survey of Updike’s work.

Time. CXLVII, January 29, 1996, p. 78. A review of In the Beauty of the Lilies.

The Wall Street Journal. January 17, 1996, p. A12. A review of In the Beauty of the Lilies.

The Washington Post Book World. XXVI, February 4, 1996, p. 1. A review of In the Beauty of the Lilies.

Wood, Ralph C. “Into the Void: Updike’s Sloth and America’s Religion.” The Christian Century (April 24, 1996): 452-457. A major review of In the Beauty of the Lilies exploring Updike’s religious vision.