Lila

Marilynne Robinson leaves me crying for her characters every time. Lila is no exception. How does she do it? Robinson shows all the achingly painful places in her people's lives and then shows how her characters heal each other with small acts of goodness. Is there a better preacher and a less preach-y preacher in the world than Robinson? She saves me and redeems me every time.

I loved this voice, more than Gilead. I appreciated the raw authenticity of the narrator's voice– even though I fortunately have not suffered her hardships, I could put myself in her shoes and feel as if I had traveled along the road with her. There was also constant tension as I worried she would leave the best thing that ever happened to her, and a lingering curiosity as to who her parents really were, and how Doll was related to/met her originally. But perhaps it was best left a mystery; it certainly was a complete story even without the missing parts and perhaps a better one because of it.