Lila (Robinson novel)

{{Infobox book|

| name = Lila

| image = Lilacover.jpeg

| image_size = 200px

| author = Marilynne Robinson

| country = United States

| language = English

| series =

| genre = Novel

| publisher = Farrar, Straus & Giroux

| release_date = October 7, 2014

| media_type = hardcover, paperback, e-book, audiobook

| pages = 272 pp

| isbn = 0374187614

| preceded_by = Gilead, Home

| followed_by = Jack

}}

Lila is a novel written by Marilynne Robinson that was published in 2014. Her fourth novel, it is the third installment of the Gilead series, after Gilead and Home. The novel focuses on the courtship and marriage of Lila and John Ames, as well as the story of Lila's transient past and her complex attachments. It won the 2014 National Book Critics Circle Award.

Reception

Lila has received widespread acclaim. According to Book Marks, the book received a "positive" consensus, based on fifteen critics: ten "rave", four "positive", and one "pan".{{Cite web |title=Lila|url=https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/lila/|access-date=16 January 2024 |website=Book Marks}} Culture Critic assessed British and American critical response as an aggregated score of 77%.{{Cite web |title=Marilynne Robinson - Lila|url=http://www.culturecritic.co.uk/books/lila|access-date=12 July 2024|website=Culture Critic|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107031832/http://www.culturecritic.co.uk/books/lila|archive-date=7 Nov 2014}} The Bookseller compiled reviews from multiple publications using a rating scale. "Top form", "Flawed but worth a read", and "Disappointing". Reviews from Observer, Independent on Sunday, and Daily Telegraph categorized the novel under "Top form".{{cite news |title=Top 10: most reviewed last week|url=https://www.link.gale.com/apps/doc/A386437086/AONE?u=anon~a686b7c8&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=3479b6dc|access-date=19 July 2024|work=The Bookseller |date=17 Oct 2014|page=25}} In the January/February 2015 issue of Bookmarks, the book was scored four out of five stars. The magazine's critical summary reads: "This may be the most tentative, formal and charming romance you'll ever encounter" concludes the Washington Post critic".{{Cite web |title=Lila|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Lila.-a0434294581|access-date=14 January 2023 |website=Bookmarks}}

In a review for The Atlantic Leslie Jamison praised the novel as "brilliant and deeply affecting."{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/10/the-power-of-grace/379334/|title=The Power of Grace|first=Leslie|last=Jamison|date=September 17, 2014|website=The Atlantic}} In another review, Sarah Churchwell wrote, "Lila... offers Robinson's characteristic delights: glorious prose, subtle wisdom and a darkly numinous atmosphere, lit at moments by a visionary wonder shading into exaltation."{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/nov/07/marilynne-robinson-lila-great-achievement-contemporary-us-fiction-gilead|title=Marilynne Robinson's Lila – a great achievement in US fiction|first=Sarah|last=Churchwell|newspaper=The Guardian |date=November 7, 2014|via=www.theguardian.com}}

In Books and Culture, Linda Moore offers "a dissenting view", critiquing the Christianity that Robinson writes about as "gospel thin, exiguous, a story slight and wanting, and Flannery isn't here to say so."{{Cite web|url=https://www.booksandculture.com/articles/webexclusives/2014/december/lila.html|title=Lila|first=Linda McCullough|last=Moore|website=Books and Culture}}

Awards

2014 National Book Critics Circle Award (Fiction){{cite web|url=http://bookcritics.org/blog/archive/national-book-critics-circle-announces-its-finalists-for-publishing-year-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150122120832/http://bookcritics.org/blog/archive/national-book-critics-circle-announces-its-finalists-for-publishing-year-20|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 22, 2015|title=National Book Critics Circle Announces Finalists for Publishing Year 2014|date=January 19, 2015|publisher=National Book Critics Circle|accessdate=January 29, 2015}}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/13/books/lila-by-marilynne-robinson-honored-as-top-fiction-by-national-book-critics-circle.html |title='Lila' Honored as Top Fiction by National Book Critics Circle |newspaper=The New York Times |author=Alexandra Alter |date=March 12, 2015 |accessdate=March 12, 2015}}

References

Category:2014 American novels

Category:Novels by Marilynne Robinson

Category:Farrar, Straus and Giroux books

Category:Third-person narrative novels

Category:National Book Critics Circle Award–winning works