It is Robinson's fifth novel and her fourth in the Gilead sequence, preceded by Gilead (2004), Home (2008), and Lila (2014). It focuses on John Ames "Jack" Boughton, the troubled son of Robert Boughton. He was named after Robert's friend Reverend John Ames, the subject of Gilead (2004).[2][3] It tells the story of the courtship of Della Miles and Jack Boughton, an interracial couple in post-World War II St. Louis, Missouri.[4]
Reception
According to Book Marks, the book received "positive" reviews based on 35 critic reviews with 14 being "rave" and 12 being "positive" and eight being "mixed" and one being "pan".[5] In Books in the Media, a site that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a rating of 4.06 out of 5 from the site which was based on 10 critic reviews.[6] In the January/February 2021 issue of Bookmarks, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a rating of 3.5 out of 5 based on critic reviews with a critical summary saying, "One note from the Washington Post: "If you're tempted to read [the Gilead novels] out of order, be warned.... Jack rests on what came before, and its poignancy arises from what we know lies ahead for these characters".[7][8]
In its starred review, Kirkus Reviews called the novel an "elegantly written proof of the thesis that love conquers all—but not without considerable pain."[10]
Claire Lowdon of The Times felt the novel was the weakest in the Gilead series, criticizing its dialogue for being "burdened with too much of the philosophical and theological debate."[13]
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