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be it ever so humble there’s no book like HOME…
In 2004, Marilynne Robinson published “Gilead,” a jewel of a novel that won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Set in the 1950s in the fictional town of Gilead, Iowa, it is the story of the Rev. John Ames, a minister nearing his 77th birthday. Late in life Ames, a widower, falls in love with a young woman. With his heart failing, he records his thoughts and feelings to pass them down to their young child. He wants the boy to know what kind of man his father was. Luminous, tender, “Gilead” goes straight to the heart.
Robinson has written a companion novel to “Gilead.” “Home” doesn’t read like a sequel. This book feels more like a good neighbor. John Ames and his family are still living in Gilead. His best friend since childhood was the Rev. Robert Boughton. Both men are quite elderly. Boughton’s health is failing faster than that of John Ames.
Boughton has been a widower for 10 years and his health has been declining. One of his seven children, a daughter named Glory, returned to Gilead to care for him. Glory has been unlucky in love. She’s 38 years old and returned home when her fiance announced that he would not marry her.
“Home” is written from Glory’s viewpoint. As the story begins, Rev. Boughton hears that his son Jack is coming home for a visit. Jack is the black sheep of the family. He hasn’t been home in 20 years. Nobody in the family knows where he has been.
Jack is seven years older than Glory. He left home when she was still a girl. They never really knew each other very well. She is resentful about his visit. Caring for her father is difficult enough. The prospect of dealing with her mysterious brother Jack overwhelms her.
Rev. Boughton is excited about Jack’s visit. Jack was always his favorite. They wait for Jack and his arrival keeps getting delayed. When Jack finally shows up, it is a real shock. In Jack, Robinson has created one of the most striking characters in recent memory.
Jack left two decades before under a cloud of scandal. His return recasts this shadow over the sweet town of Gilead. “Home” is a poignant tale about the enduring strength of family bonds. Robinson’s delicate depiction of this tangled web of family is mesmerizing While the main focus of “Home” is the Boughton family’s relations, the Ames family flits through these pages like moths dancing amid the sparkling shimmers of Robinson’s prose.
As we turn the pages of “Home,” we collect each precious morsel, the hints that Jack doles out like rare gems. He has always been running from himself. Finally at home, Jack crashes through the shards of his tormented soul.
Home is the one place where you feel safe. When Jack is leaving again Glory says: “Don’t worry. If you ever need to come home. I’ll be here.” In a world that is so very uncertain there’s no book like “Home.”
Robinson will be appearing at Cedarville University’s Dixon Ministry Center Recital Hall, 251 N. Main St. in Cedarville, at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12. For more information, call (937) 766-7808.
Vick Mickunas
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