Gilead

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

ISBN 1844083365   Weight (grammes) 511 ISBN13 9781844083367 (What's this?)   Published in London Publisher Little, Brown Book Group   Height (mm) 203 Imprint Virago Press Ltd   Width (mm) 127 Format Paperback   Spine width (mm) 28 Publication date 03 Feb 2006   Academic level General Pages 368

Gilead is no less a masterpiece than Housekeeping Sunday Times Stunning... there are gems on every page of Gilead, but it is the whole construction that marks it as a great work Daily Telegraph The slow pulse of Robinson's writing slows the reader's eye and mind, and creates in the reading process a literary version of the narrator's spiritual experience. Gilead reminds us that words have power to spare, to forgive, to do justice Independent A novel as big as a nation, as quiet as thought, and moving as prayer. Matchless and towering. Kirkus Review

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