Lila (Oprah's Book Club): A Novel

Marilynne Robinson

Oct 2014 · Sold by Farrar, Straus and Giroux

About this ebook

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award
National Book Award Finalist

A new American classic from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Gilead and Housekeeping

Marilynne Robinson, one of the greatest novelists of our time, returns to the town of Gilead in an unforgettable story of a girlhood lived on the fringes of society in fear, awe, and wonder.
Lila, homeless and alone after years of roaming the countryside, steps inside a small-town Iowa church-the only available shelter from the rain-and ignites a romance and a debate that will reshape her life. She becomes the wife of a minister, John Ames, and begins a new existence while trying to make sense of the life that preceded her newfound security.
Neglected as a toddler, Lila was rescued by Doll, a canny young drifter, and brought up by her in a hardscrabble childhood. Together they crafted a life on the run, living hand to mouth with nothing but their sisterly bond and a ragged blade to protect them. Despite bouts of petty violence and moments of desperation, their shared life was laced with moments of joy and love. When Lila arrives in Gilead, she struggles to reconcile the life of her makeshift family and their days of hardship with the gentle Christian worldview of her husband which paradoxically judges those she loves.
Revisiting the beloved characters and setting of Robinson's Pulitzer Prize-winning Gilead and Home, a National Book Award finalist, Lila is a moving expression of the mysteries of existence that is destined to become an American classic.

Ratings and reviews

This book is written in a highly original voice--Lila's stream of consciousness musings about her life in the past, present, future and hereafter. Lila is a fascinating character who is uneducated but very smart, afraid to trust but full of love and common decency. The Reverand exemplifies unconditional love and its power to heal. Filled with raw emotion from beginning to end, the book raises important questions about the meaning of existence, the afterlife, religion and good versus evil. Not an easy read!

weird. i was looking up my name and i found this book. it looks really good and so does the description. i look forward to reading it..

Am not going to read it but my moms name is Lila

About the author

Marilynne Robinson is the author of the novels Home, Gilead (winner of the Pulitzer Prize), and Housekeeping, and four books of nonfiction, When I Was a Child I Read Books, Mother Country, The Death of Adam, and Absence of Mind. She teaches at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop.