Jack The Gilead

Marilynne Robinson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Humanities Medal, returns to the world of Gilead with Jack, the final in one of the great works of contemporary American fiction.

Jack tells the story of John Ames Boughton, the black sheep of his family, the beloved and grieved-over prodigal son of a Presbyterian minister in Gilead, Iowa, a drunkard and a ne’er-do-well. In segregated St. Louis sometime after World War II, Jack falls in love with Della Miles, an African-American high school teacher who is also a preacher’s child, with a discriminating mind, a generous spirit, and an independent will. Their fraught, beautiful romance is one of Robinson's greatest achievements.

The Gilead novels are about the dilemmas and promise of American history—about the ongoing legacy of the Civil War and the enduring impact of race and religion. They touch the deepest chords in our national character and resonate with our deepest feelings.