Lovely and methodical, Gilead captures the quiet moments of reflection at the end of a life. A preacher who has rarely ventured beyond the confines of his small hometown in rural America, John Ames is now in his seventies and in ill health. His greatest sorrow is that the child borne to him by his second wife will never have a chance to know his father, and so Ames sets down to write a letter that will explain himself to his young son. In the course of this missive, part apology, part magnum opus, the preacher ruminates on the people he has known, the beliefs he has held dear, the truths he has gleaned during his years on earth, where he has succeeded and where he has failed in his attempt to live according to God’s will. Eschewing the rapid pacing of many modern novels, Robinson calibrates her prose to the meandering whimsies of an old man’s thoughts, and the rewards she offers to the patient reader are abundant.
Book Review by Anna Ziajka
