6. Gone Sometime. Home to Stay: Marilynne Robinson

Abstract

Starting from the opening words of Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead and Home, this chapter argues that, together, these novels are about the possibility of the survival of the spirit after death. Considering the repetition between Gilead, Home, and Robinson’s Lila also, Coughlan argues that these works of generations and inheritances themselves share an inheritance and that these repeating texts are, in turn, peopled by characters twinned in name and deed. At issue are questions of secrets, predestination, and surprises, but Coughlan suggests that Robinson’s conclusion can only be that the future holds no surprises for God, who names all possible futures and brings all home.