Lila by Marilynne Robinson

Loved, loved, loved it. It inspired me to read 2 more of Robinson's books, Home and Gilead. I'm going to try to write about Gilead later.

Lila is set in Gilead, at least the present-day part of it is. Home, too, is set in the town of Gilead, as is, of course, Gilead. I like it when authors write books that interlace the way these 3 do. There are different main characters, different plots, different times, but it's kind of like catching glimpses of old friends from other books. Barbara Pym does a good job with this, too.

Lila is the name of, and story of, the woman who becomes the wife of Reverend Ames, the main character in Gilead. She's a strange character. She grew up very poor, mostly looked after by a woman named Doll. Doll and Lila lived a kind of hobo life. The book begins when Lila is alone, grown, and staying in an abandoned house in the town of Gilead.

It's been quite a while since I read the book and I had to take a look to remember if the book was written in first person or not. Even though it is not, it kind of felt like you were inside Lila's head, and seeing the unfolding of events from her perspective.

You follow the progression of her relationship with "the Reverend," as she calls him. It is a strange coupling, it seems. They are so different. Yet there is a lot of attraction between them, and they do love each other. Reverend Ames, who knows so much about theology and faith, and who is so much older than Lila, is fascinated by her even though she is so "un-scholarly" compared to him, and kind of "un-eloquent," too. But she's wise. And she loves him, too.

It's hard for me to write about Lila in a way that makes it sound interesting. I'm not sure what to say. Partly, it is such a good book because Marilynne Robinson is such a good writer. It always sounds kind of off-putting to me when someone says they love a book because the writing is so good. It makes me imagine beautiful descriptive passages. They ARE beautiful, but I often start to skim them as I get involved in the story and just want to read for the story, not the writing.

Maybe instead of saying it's so good because of the writing, I could say it's because of Robinson's wonderful way with words. I am all about the story, especially in fiction, and Robinson writes so that I do get into the story. Yet, without making me annoyed by moving away from the story, she fits in flashbacks and passages of inner thoughts.