In 1956, toward the end of Reverend John Ames's life, he begins a letter to
his young son, a kind of last testament to his remarkable forebears. 'It is
a book of such meditative calm, such spiritual intensity that is seems
miraculous that her silence was only for 23 years; such measure of wisdom
is the fruit of a lifetime. Robinson's prose, aligned with the sublime
simplicity of the language of the bible, is nothing short of a benediction.
You might not share its faith, but it is difficult not to be awed moved and
ultimately humbled by the spiritual effulgence that lights up the novel
from within' Neel Mukherjee, The Times 'Writing of this quality, with an
authority as unforced as the perfect pitch in music, is rare and carries
with it a sense almost of danger - that at any moment, it might all go
wrong. In Gilead, however, nothing goes wrong' Jane Shilling, Sunday
Telegraph