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Returning home is a familiar trope in world literature. From Homer’s epic to the more contemporary writings of Tom Wolfe or Jhumpa Lahiri, returning home is a symbolic movement through space and time. The concept of home is especially salient within feminist discourse. Here, it can be a source of power or a place of confinement. For Marilynne Robinson, it is both.
In her latest novel, Robinson provides fertile ground for ruminations on the subject. Written as a companion to her Pulitzer Prize winning ,
explores the patrofilial dynamics of the Boughton family. Jack, Glory’s brother and the Reverend Boughton’s prodigal son, comes back after twenty years. Known to the town as an alcoholic and a petty thief, he is unable to connect with anyone but his sister, who is willing to tiptoe through their relationship to preserve the sacred link between father and son. In a book laden with theology, the author does not lose sight of women’s absence from the church. For Glory, this extends into her relationship with her father. One night, after exchanging words with Jack, she watches as her father regards “him with such sad tenderness that she wished she could will herself out of existence, herself and every word she had ever said.” Using Glory as the protagonist, Robinson critically examines the relationship of the father and son, nuancing its links to Christian scripture.
Despite the invisibility that shrouds Glory, Robinson skillfully paints a female protagonist who maintains agency throughout. It is Glory who chooses to return to a home in which she could never be as valued as her brother, or as close to God as her father. It is Glory who chooses to study the bible piously, praying on her knees every night. Robinson shows the reader that Glory never had the privilege to be reckless in the way her brother did, and though she suffers from the consequences of patriarchy, she never allows herself to be a victim. She returns to the home of her childhood and thrives in a place halfway between the past and the present. In the final pages of the book, Glory imagines Jack’s son returning years later to the home that she has preserved:
Another prodigal son is born. Check out more reviews at |
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