In 1956, toward the end of Reverend John Ames's life, he begins a letter to his young son, an account of himself and his forebears. Ames is the son of an Iowa preacher and the grandson of a minister who, as a young man in Maine, saw a vision and came west to Kansas to fight for abolition. Reverend Ames tells a story of the sacred bonds between fathers and sons, which are tested in his tender and strained relationship with his best friend's wayward son. Gilead is the long-hoped-for second novel by one of our finest writers, a hymn of praise and lamentation to the God-haunted existence that Reverend Ames loves passionately, and from which he will soon part.
Reviews
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In 1956 Gilead, Iowa, the elderly Reverend John Ames is facing death. Before he leaves the earth, he writes an account of his life, his ancestors, and his faith for his young son. Married late in life to a much younger woman, Ames cannot bear that his son may never know him. Tim Jerome sounds like a preacher with his deep voice and unhurried pace, and he does an excellent job matching his voice to Ames's mood--husky when tired, righteous when angry, and laughing when his son is amusing. However, novels written in diary or letter format are difficult to translate to audio without sufficient drama to be engaging. A.B. 2005 Pulitzer Prize (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine
About the Author
Marilynne Robinson is the author of the modern classic Housekeeping - winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award - and two books of nonfiction. Housekeeping was made into a film directed by Bill Forsyth. Robinson teaches at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop.
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