Jack

“With the sublime Jack, [Robinson] resumes and deepens [the Gilead series], extending it to the contemplation of race…. There is richness and depth at every turn.” —De’Shawn Charles Winslow, O, Oprah Magazine

The long-awaited fourth and last of Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead novels—one of the great works of contemporary literature.



With Jack, Robinson takes her readers back to the small town of Gilead, Iowa, in 1956, to tell the story of John Ames Boughton, the godson of John Ames and the black sheep of his family. He’s a ne-er do well and the beloved prodigal son who falls in love with and marries Della, a beautiful and brilliant African-American teacher he meets in segregated St. Louis. Their fraught, beautiful romance is one of Robinson’s greatest achievements.