Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

When Congregationalist minister John Ames loses his first wife and child he never expects to find love again. So it is with great surprise that he meets the woman of his dreams decades later. Even though she is young enough to be his child, they get married and have a son. It is then that John Ames discovers he has a terminal heart condition and will probably die before his son is seven years old. Ames decides to write a letter to his son--so that his son will have a chance to know him--and this writing, along with the homecoming of his prodigal namesake (his best friend's son), reveals more to him about the importance of family, the nature of God, love, repentance, and forgiveness than all his years of preaching ever did.

Gilead, a national bestseller and Pulitzer prize winner, is a meditative read. As one reviewer from the New York Times said, "Gradually, Robinson's novel teaches us how to read it, suggests how we might slow down to walk at its own processional pace." It is a beautiful book that makes you savor its language and its hope. Reading this book is like finding a bit of the balm of Gilead in your own hands.