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Housekeeping

Housekeeping

A Novel
Contemporary LiteratureLiterary Fiction
Pages
224
Published
1980
Language
English

Synopsis

Ruth and Lucille, two orphaned sisters, are raised by their eccentric aunt Sylvie in a remote, decaying house by a lake. As they grow, their aunt's unconventional ways challenge their understanding of home and belonging. The novel explores their diverging paths and the profound impact of their unique upbringing.

Prose complexity
7/10

Vibe

MelancholicReflectiveAtmospheric
Coming of AgeFamily Saga

Genres

Contemporary Literature Literary Fiction

About the author

M
Marilynne Robinson

Marilynne Robinson (born November 26, 1943, in Sandpoint, Idaho) is an American novelist and essayist. Her novels include Housekeeping (1980) and Gilead (2004), winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, along with its related novels Home (2008), Lila (2014) and Jack (2020). She taught at the Iowa Writers' Workshop from 1991 until her retirement in 2016 and received the National Humanities Medal in 2012.

Characters

RuthProtagonist
All characters in Housekeeping