Gilead by Marilynn Robinson

Another Christmas present from David, this book has taken me a while to read. It is beautifully written but very slow and meant to be savored. The narrator is an aging minister who writes a long letter to his young son about his past and his faith. I was particularly interested in this book because of all of the ministers in my family. When he talks about boxes of sermons that represent a lifetime of thought , I think of my grandfather, who I have only met through the words he left behind. Robinson teaches at Iowa Writers Workshop and was one of Salvatore Scibona's instructors when he was a student there. He gave me a copy of Robinson's Housekeeping. This makes her a special writer in my mind.