num_pages: 282
description: In 1956, toward the end of Reverend John Ames's life, he begins a letter to his young son, a kind of last testament to his remarkable forebears. 'It is a book of such meditative calm, such spiritual intensity that is seems miraculous that her silence was only for 23 years; such measure of wisdom is the fruit of a lifetime. Robinson's prose, aligned with the sublime simplicity of the language of the bible, is nothing short of a benediction. You might not share its faith, but it is difficult not to be awed moved and ultimately humbled by the spiritual effulgence that lights up the novel from within' Neel Mukherjee, The Times 'Writing of this quality, with an authority as unforced as the perfect pitch in music, is rare and carries with it a sense almost of danger - that at any moment, it might all go wrong. In Gilead, however, nothing goes wrong' Jane Shilling, Sunday Telegraph
language: English
title: Gilead
titlecomplete: Gilead (Gilead, #1)
characters: Reverend Robert Boughton, John Ames, Jack Boughton
genres: Fiction, Historical, Religion, Literature, Classics, Novels, Contemporary, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Audiobook
ratings_count: 107214
places: Gilead, Iowa
series: Gilead
awards: awardedAt: 1104566400000
name: Pulitzer Prize
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 1136102400000
name: Orange Prize
category: Fiction Longlist, awardedAt: 1104566400000
name: PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, awardedAt: 1104566400000
name: Ambassador Book Award
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Los Angeles Times Book Prize
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 1104566400000
name: Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 1136102400000
name: Rodda Book Award, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: National Book Critics Circle Award
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Frederic G. Melcher Book Award, awardedAt: 1104566400000
name: Society of Midland Authors Award
category: Adult Fiction, awardedAt: 1136102400000
name: Grawemeyer Award
category: Religion
publisher: Virago