Typical Marilynne Robinson!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                   No matter what she writes, I always read Marilynne Robinson, because I can always count on penetrating insights, character examination, and gorgeous language.  "Jack," part of her cycle that began with my favorite, "Gilead," details the relationship of Jack Boughton, the prodigal son of that Gilead, Iowa family, whose father is a Presbyterian minister, and his relationship with a woman of  color named Della Miles.  It reminded me of an interracial take on Lanford Wilson's play, "Talley's Folly," only Robinson layers it with so much detail--both present and past--that the reader is spellbound by the tale being told.  Both characters are sympathetic and tragic, yet the ending is almost hopeful,  kind of like a non-comic version of "The Graduate."

                                                      For anyone who has read her, Robinson's latest is a must.  

                                                      For those who have not, "Gilead" is where one should start.

                                                      This novel was so good.  And, yet,  I wish it had been better.

                                                       It left this reader wanting....I don't know what!!!!!!!!!!!!