This novel touched me deeply... This first novel by Marilynne Robinson is so incredible and the language is so beautiful that I would read passages over and over again just to savor the words. The novel speaks to the heart and soul about the transitory state that our lives exemplify, while touching on our expectations and their consequences on our experiences of life.

Not only is it a story about transiency but of sisters. This is the story of two sisters, Ruthie and Lucille. The girls' mother dies and they are being raised by their grandmother who also dies. The next to try to raise them are their aunts--sisters Lily and Nora, but they just aren't up to the task, so their sister Sylvie comes in to take over for them.

Sylvie is just plain odd. She collects odd things and she is just peculiar. The girls notice, as well as the rest of the town. This is the tale of Ruthie and Lucille trying to make decisions about who they are and who they will become.

It's just beautiful and heart wrenching at the same time. It's a book about survival and trying to find a place in society; or whether you want to be a part of that society or not.