“Yes,” she said. “Good evening.” There were tears in her voice.This is the fourth book in Robinson's Gilead series, about two families from the town of that name in Iowa. We had got parts of Jack's story in the earlier books Gilead and Home, but I confess I had forgotten most of the details and enjoyed Jack as if it had been a standalone novel. The protagonist is the alcoholic, self-loathing son of a preacher, who falls in love with a black woman, Della (whose father is also a clergyman), in St Louis in 1956. It's a slow-moving story, but it's moving as well as slow. Jack gradually finds his path to redemption and Della her path to independence; it's not an easy time for a relationship like theirs, but Robinson takes us through it all carefully and believably. I really enjoyed this. You can get it here.
Jack bubbled to the top of three of my lists simultaneously - top unread book acquired this year, top unread book by a woman and top unread non-sf fiction. Next on the first of those lists is Mortal Engines, by my fellow guest at next year's Eastercon, Philip Reeve; top of both the other two is The Wych Elm by Tana French.
