Glory Boughton has returned to the small town of Gilead to take care of her dying father, the Reverend John Boughton. As the youngest of 8 children, she has spent her whole life trying to escape her role as the “baby” of the family and build a life outside of her childhood home. But as a failed engagement coincides with her father’s illness, Glory finds herself back in Gilead, wondering if it can ever truly be a home.
Glory’s brother, Jack, is also back in Gilead. After a delinquent adolescence that ended in scandal and tragedy, Jack has been estranged froom the family for 20 years. While their father is overjoyed at the prodigal son’s return, Glory is skeptical. Did Jack come home looking for escape, absolution, or something more sinister? As the brother and sister slowly come to confide in each other, they grapple with questions of forgiveness, spirituality, and what it means to come home.
Home is the sort-of sequel to Robinson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Gilead. It takes place over roughly the same time period as Gilead, and Jack is a central character in both. However, while Glory is a barely-mentioned side character in Gilead, she is the protagonist of Home. Gilead is one of my favorite novels of all time, and it was fascinating seeing some of the same conversations and events play out in Home, but from a completely different perspective. Home retains Robinson’s gorgeous prose, and introduces a very likable main character in Glory, whose highly sensitive, people-pleasing nature was extremely relatable to me. The historical elements were well-managed too. The characters watch the Montgomery bus boycotts on the news and hold differing opinions: Jack is fiercely in favor of the Civil Rights movement, while Reverend Boughton, though sympathetic, condemns the protestors for rocking the boat. Marilynne Robinson beautifully captures the cognitive dissonance that can occur when someone you love and admire seems to be on the “wrong side of history.” This was a lovely, meditative novel that beautifully engages with themes of love, family, changing relationships, and forgiveness.