Reverend John Ames is dying in 1956 in Gilead, Iowa, and he in recording his family's story. Glory Boughton has returned to care for her dying father and soon her brother, Jack, the prodigal son, comes home, too.

Chaos erupts in the Rubinstein household when Olympia's twin daughters are invited to New York's most exclusive debutante ball--with one twin and Olympia's current husband refusing to attend, and the other young woman and Olympia's snobbish ex-husband already shopping for the event.

Jasmine Houston, a widow with a young son, agrees to harbor former slaves at her horse farm outside of Lowell, even though her father, a plantation owner, supports slavery. When a boardinghouse keeper unwittingly becomes involved with a traveling peddler who sells something infinitely more valuable than shoes, Jasmine is devastated to discover that her son and the former slaves have been kidnapped. Jasmine's determination to free them threatens to...

Marilynne Robinson's mythical world of Gilead, Iowa -- the setting of her novels Gilead, Home, and Lila, and now Jack -- and its beloved characters have illuminated and interrogated the complexities of American history, the power of our emotions, and the wonders of a sacred world. Jack is Robinson's fourth novel in this now-classic series. In it, Robinson tells the story of John Ames Boughton, the prodigal son of Gilead's Presbyterian minister, and...

"A family saga of pain and reconciliation set behind the closed doors of an Amish community. Spanning three generations, the story follows the life of Will McGruder, who having fled as a young man, seeks to heal the past by bringing his new family to meet his Amish relatives"--Provided by publisher.

When local minister Sam Kinkade's plans to welcome the area's growing Hispanic community to the church are met with resistance, he asks Elisa Martinez for guidance, and together they make things work with the help of a special group of women.

Jean Wright is a widow in a small New England city and the owner of a venerable glassworks company. When a tragic car accident robs her of a loved one, Jean must put aside her grief to raise the surviving child, the one-year-old Guin, as her own. As the child blossoms into an independent young woman, the two generations clash. When guin defies the only mother she's ever known by striking out on her own--pursuing a completely different kind of career,...

Siddalee Walker, a successful theater director, is thrown into a void of uncertainty when she has a falling out with her mother over a New York Times article in which Vivi is characterized as an abusive parent, and the Ya-Yas, Vivi's gang of lifelong girlfriends, conspire to restore the mother-daughter relationship.

Tells the story of the Keeling family, focusing on Penelope Keeling from World War I to the present, relating the passions and heartbreak that have held them together for three generations.

Returning to Ashuant Point to escape from the chaos of rapidly changing times, Helen Porter and her son Charlie soon discover that the Point has not remained unscathed from events unfolding beyond its borders.