A ‘Reading for Wellbeing’ recommended read!
Home and Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Home is set in the 1950s in a small rural town in Iowa. Robert Boughton, a retired minister, is in poor health. His youngest daughter Glory has returned to care for him. Jack, his father’s most beloved but most troubled son, also returns home after a 20 year absence – searching for peace, forgiveness and a chance to rebuild his delicate relationship with his father.
What’s lovely about the book is its slowness – it almost encourages you to slow down, appreciate life, your family and the minutiae of daily life – making pancakes, sitting chatting at the kitchen table, preparing vegetables, playing the piano. My life tends to be very rushed, and it made me realise that I need to slow down and look around and savour it, instead of filling every moment with activity! Reading Home is at the same time life-affirming and heart-wrenchingly sad. Despite its apparent simplicity and Robinson’s beautifully clear language, it tackles huge themes of forgiveness, the beauty and pain of unconditional love, and the enduring power of family.
I totally fell in love with the characters, so I loved the fact that there was a companion novel, Gilead, to read. What’s great is that you see the same story from two different perspectives – in Gilead, it’s told from the perspective of the Reverend John Ames, who is coming towards the end of his life and begins a letter to his young son. He has a troubled relationship with Jack, and it’s very interesting to see both sides to the same story.
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