We are back in the world of Gilead but not in Gilead itself. Marilynne Robinsson presents us again with an unusual couple, the same way she did in Lila. This time the roles of the one being the light and the one looking for the light (Lila and Reverend Ames) are interpreted by Jack and Della, a man born to a comfortable life that can’t make much of it, and a woman who is making the best of hers with much more to come for her and is on the point of throwing all away. He can’t look away from how little he has to offer her, in fact what he has to offer if more pain and damage, while Della, aware of all this still thinks love is the thing worth pursuing, very conscious herself of the pain she is causing her family. We have been presented in numerous occasions with the landscape of joy love brings with itself, this time round the landscape is different, but still the characters are determined to walk it.

Jack is the fourth in the Gilead series, and I really recommend reading them all to really appreciate the continuing story of the Boughton family. As with the other books, Jack is a wonderfully lyrical, beautifully written piece of literature. We gain an insight into the psyche of Jack that was alluded to in the other books. He is a tortured soul, consumed by shame over past actions, lonely, and trying to isolate himself from the world so as not to cause harm. But a chance encounter with Della is to change him forever. Jack is white, Della is black. It is 1950's America. Her family are opposed to their union, and it is a testament to their enduring love and loyalty that they make a choice to be together despite all obstacles. Della's love for Jack makes him want to be a better man, but his thoughts continually haunt him - he can't bear the thought of her losing her job as a teacher, or disappointing her family. He tries to walk away. But he cannot. The final chapter is so so beautiful - understated and poignant. Jack is a book that should be savoured and is one that will stay with the reader long after the last page is turned.

Marilynne Robinson brings us back to Gilead again telling us Jack’s life before he returned to “Home”. It is a wonderfully written novel about two lonely souls finding one an other and falling in love each other despite the restrictions and laws of society. Every sentence is written with the utmost care and every word is used perfectly to make this complex novel a unique reading experience. Everything about the novel is powerful, the subtle way of describing events, addition of the religious differences and racial inequality during the 50s in America. Robinson’s storytelling is exceptionally graceful without any pretence and hits you straight away engaging you until the last sentence. Now I have to go back and re-read “Home” to understand Jack better. Enjoy it.

With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance review copy. I was blown away by Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead when I first read it, and was eagerly waiting for this fourth instalment in the series, if it can be called such. Like Gilead, this is a train of theological thought as much as anything else, exploring issues such as predestination, human fallibility, conscience and shame alongside an illegal mixed race relationship, the complexities of family relations, and the power of love to redeem us. Jack is an intriguing character. He figures in the previous three novels to varying degrees but always seen through others’ eyes, a prodigal son viewed with deep mistrust and suspicion by pretty much everyone except except by his father. In this instalment, finally, we get himself as told by himself, although he is his own harshest critic. He is edging towards middle age, possessed of a raffish charm but living in a miserable room in a boarding house in St Louis after a spell in prison, with varying odd jobs but no permanent employment, unerringly identified as an easy target by thugs who extort money from him, with frayed clothing and a drink and petty larceny problem to numb the pain of daily existence. Suicide is an ever-present impulse, kept at bay only by the thought of the beloved preacher father he has distanced himself from in order to avoid inflicting daily disappointment. Into this existence walks Della Miles, a young black woman of dignity and grace, a schoolteacher, daughter of a bishop in Memphis. Jack helps her with some dropped papers on a rainy day and walks her home, and so begins an unlikely, and illegal, love story. As in Gilead, much is made of the various Christian denominations and the differences between them in interpreting the Gospels and applying them to human life. Jack comes from a Presbyterian family, with a belief in predestination, and this seems to have had an enormous bearing on how he perceives himself. He feels that he brings harm to all around him, just by being, and this happens even when he tries to devote himself to harmlessness, to the extent of removing himself from the presence of his loved ones in order not to inflict pain by being who he is. When he falls in love with Della, the potential harm to her is only too easy to foresee, but he is drawn to her again and again in spite of all advice to the contrary. The bare bones of the plot are really just a skeleton from which to hang an incredible richness of theological thought and psychological insight, alongside some incisive social commentary. Like Gilead and Home, this novel, to me, is about fathers and sons and the complex relations between them. In this case, the Christian God is part of the equation too, with an exploration of the differences between different denominations in how they manage their relationship with Him. Marilynne Robinson perfectly captures the humanity, compassion, complexity and heartbreaking beauty of one of the most fundamental relationships in a human life. Read these books - they are not a quick or easy read, but are amongst the most beautiful and moving and important ones I have ever read.

In 1634 a fleet of ships is heading to Amsterdam from the Dutch East Indies with a very special, very mysterious cargo alongside the usual spices on one of the ships. This is the ship that also holds the Governor General returning with his wife and daughter to take his place in the powerful Gentlemen 17 as a reward for bringing this mysterious cargo. Also aboard are a brilliantly portrayed set of characters including the world’s greatest detective Samuel Pipps and the mercenary Arent who has played Watson to his Holmes as he’s travelled the world solving baffling crimes but is now charged with keeping Pipps safe until he arrives in Amsterdam to be tried for a nameless crime that will keep him locked up for the entire voyage. As the ship is being loaded a leper warns them they are doomed before bursting into flames but the Governor General is so determined to deliver his prize that nothing, not even the daemon known as Old Tom who stalks the boat at night bringing mayhem and death, will stop him. Fantastic mix of historical adventure and horror brought to life in a fast paced plot with very believable characters.