This book is truly transcendent. Gifty is the child of immigrant parents from Ghana. She is a PhD candidate in neuroscience at Stanford University researching the brain cells that trigger addiction after her brother dies of an overdose. Gifty struggles to make sense of a childhood where her mother withholds her love and fills the void with religion.

Home is part of the Gilead trilogy. The main character is a Presbyterian minister, Robert Broughton, who reflects on his life and the mistakes he made in raising his children, especially a prodigal son who returns after years of being estranged from the family. Broughton is an associate of Reverend Ames. Lila appears in this book as a stable and mature wife to Reverend Ames and source of comfort to the Broughton family.

Lila by Marilynne Robinson is a continuation of the story of Gilead. She is a homeless migrant worker who finds herself in Gilead and married to Reverend John Ames, who was the main character in the first book. This is a character driven story and the language of the author is poetic.

This book was strangely similar to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Richardson, down to the characters and plot.