| Housekeeping by Marilynn Robinson
from Chris McDonough Guide Rating - **** The Bottom Line High in the western mountains a train spins off a trestle and careens into the lake below, which freezes and seals itself. Beside the lake is the town of Fingerbone, where sisters Ruthie and Lucille are being raised by their grandmother. Their grandfather is still on the train. After their grandmother's death, the sisters are eventually cared for by Aunt Sylvie, their late mother's sister. Aunt Sylvie is a transient who brings into crisis the issues of how, and whether, to keep house Pros: Vivid, tragic, amusing, beautifully written. Cons: Unsettling plot and long sentences. Description � Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux � 219 pages; softcover � ISBN: 0-374-17313-3 Guide Review - Housekeeping by Marilynn Robinson Housekeeping was an instant classic when it was first published in 1980. It is a haunting, dreamlike novel. You may be enthralled, amused, or uneasy, but you will not be bored. If you put it down, Housekeeping will return to you again and again. This is an interesting thing for it to do, since Marilynn Robinson wrote it to show how people and things can happen, finish and pass away - and then become even more real and have more impact in our spirit and recollection. The characters are flesh and blood, unless they are features of the landscape, drawn so strongly that they play a role in the plot. If words were food, I would call this book delicious. �2004 About, Inc. All rights reserved |
| Published About.com Women Writers 2004-10 |
| CHRIS MCDONOUGH |
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