A review by pamelaaugust
Lila by Marilynne Robinson

2.0

The writing was good and this might have been a good book in its own. However, as part of a trilogy it didn't fit. We were first introduced to Lila in the Pulitzer-prize winning, Gilead, then she featured as a minor character in home. This book delved into Lila's back story. The Lila I read about here didn't match with the introspective, old soul, still waters run deep kind of woman that was described in Gilead. While I think John Ames would have been intrigued by and compassionate toward Lila, I don't think he ever would have fallen in love with her or married her. There were no spiritual and intellectual equals and I think that would have been too important to him. Even if he were just old and lonely, I don't think he would have married this much younger woman with an unknown past. This book just felt too far-fetched and didn't mesh with others in the series. I very much appreciated Lila's perspective and the way she understood the world. I also enjoyed how her simple questions caused John to reconsider long-standing beliefs and look at scripture in a new light.

Also, on a formatting note...this book didn't have chapters or even page breaks. That was very irritating when trying to find a place to stop reading for the night. Each paragraph ran into the next.