Sign up for our newsletters to receive our Best of 2024 ezine!

Beyond the Book: Background information when reading Gilead

Summary |  Excerpt |  Reading Guide |  Reviews |  Beyond the Book |  Read-Alikes |  Genres & Themes |  Author Bio

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

Gilead

A Novel

by Marilynne Robinson
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (17):
  • Readers' Rating (6):
  • First Published:
  • Nov 1, 2004, 256 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Jan 2006, 256 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Beyond the Book

This article relates to Gilead

Print Review

Background Information:
The Biblical Gilead is a region near the Jordan River which is described as having plants with healing properties. According to some sources, the Hebrew origin of the word simply means 'rocky area.' - which begs the question whether it makes an ironic or symbolically accurate title for Robinson's novel?
"Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?" Jeremiah 8:22

More Information
An article from Publishers Weekly about Housekeeping
Pictures of the Gilead area.

Filed under

This article relates to Gilead. It first ran in the January 18, 2006 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.

This review is available to non-members for a limited time. For full access become a member today.
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Small Rain
    Small Rain
    by Garth Greenwell
    At the beginning of Garth Greenwell's novel Small Rain, the protagonist, an unnamed poet in his ...
  • Book Jacket: Daughters of Shandong
    Daughters of Shandong
    by Eve J. Chung
    Daughters of Shandong is the debut novel of Eve J. Chung, a human rights lawyer living in New York. ...
  • Book Jacket: The Women
    The Women
    by Kristin Hannah
    Kristin Hannah's latest historical epic, The Women, is a story of how a war shaped a generation ...
  • Book Jacket: The Wide Wide Sea
    The Wide Wide Sea
    by Hampton Sides
    By 1775, 48-year-old Captain James Cook had completed two highly successful voyages of discovery and...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
In Our Midst
by Nancy Jensen
In Our Midst follows a German immigrant family’s fight for freedom after their internment post–Pearl Harbor.
Who Said...

Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Big Holiday Wordplay 2024

Enter Now

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.