For the first hundred pages or so, as I was reading Home, I wished I had read it sooner after finishing Gilead, which I read a couple years ago. I found myself struggling to remember the characters and histories from the first book. I remembered some details, but not others. But as I read on, my memory and lack thereof started to feel right. It was at the moment that I realized the two books covered the same time period (which probably happened for me later in the book than it should have) that everything started to click. I knew one big secret, and knowing that made it feel like I was in on something. But other facts I had forgotten - or that simply weren't in Gilead - kept cropping up. The book covered familiar ground, but I learned new things and got a deeper understanding from it.
Marilynne Robinson seems to tell stories by first withholding information and then letting out little pieces bit by bit, and it's really lovely. In the case of Home, this method of storytelling seems particularly true to the characters and the reserve they have with each other. The secrecy and tender duplicity practiced by the characters in Home struck me as very Protestant and very familiar. This story felt like it could have taken place in some offshoot of my own family tree. One thing I loved about this book - and probably part of made it feel like my family - was the food. Every food Glory prepared in Home sounded like something my great aunt Gladys might have cooked up for a family meal.
Now I need to decide if I should read Lila right away or wait a couple years.
