Lila
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Lila
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Narrated by:
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Maggie Hoffman
About this listen
A new American classic from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Gilead and Housekeeping. Marilynne Robinson, one of the greatest novelists of our time, returns to the town of Gilead in an unforgettable story of a girlhood lived on the fringes of society in fear, awe, and wonder.
Lila, homeless and alone after years of roaming the countryside, steps inside a small-town Iowa church - the only available shelter from the rain - and ignites a romance and a debate that will reshape her life. She becomes the wife of a minister, John Ames, and begins a new existence while trying to make sense of the life that preceded her newfound security.
Neglected as a toddler, Lila was rescued by Doll, a canny young drifter, and brought up by her in a hardscrabble childhood. Together they crafted a life on the run, living hand to mouth with nothing but their sisterly bond and a ragged blade to protect them. Despite bouts of petty violence and moments of desperation, their shared life was laced with moments of joy and love. When Lila arrives in Gilead, she struggles to reconcile the life of her makeshift family and their days of hardship with the gentle Christian worldview of her husband which paradoxically judges those she loves.
Revisiting the beloved characters and setting of Robinson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Gilead and Home, a National Book Award finalist, Lila is a moving expression of the mysteries of existence that is destined to become an American classic.
©2014 Marilynne Robinson (P)2014 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
2015, Folio Prize Nominee
2014, Christian Science Monitor Best Books of the Year
2014, National Book Awards - Finalist
2015, Man Booker Award - Nominee
2014, NPR Best Book of the Year
2014, Washington Post Best Books of the Year
2014, Seattle Times Best Books of the Year
2014, New York Times Book Review Notable Books of the Year
2014, National Book Critics Circle Award - Nominee
2014, Los Angeles Times Holiday Books Guide
“Lila is a book whose grandeur is found in its humility. That's what makes Gilead among the most memorable settings in American fiction . . . Gilead [is] a kind of mythic everyplace, a quintessential national setting where our country's complicated union with faith, in all its degrees of constancy and skepticism, is enacted.” —Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal
“Literary lioness Robinson--she's won a Pulitzer Prize for fiction, a Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award, and a National Book Critics Circle Award, among other laurels--continues the soaring run of novels with loosely connected story lines and deep religious currents that she launched a decade ago, almost a quarter century after her acclaimed fiction debut, Housekeeping . . . Lila's journey--its darker passages illuminated by Robinson's ability to write about love and the natural world with grit and graceful reverence--will mesmerize both longtime Robinson devotees and those coming to her work for the first time.” —Elle
“Ever since the publication of Robinson's thrilling first novel, Housekeeping, reviewers have been pointing out that, for an analyst of modern alienation, she is an unusual specimen: a devout Protestant, reared in Idaho. She now lives in Iowa City, where she teaches at the Iowa Writers' Workshop and where, for years, she has been accustomed to interrupting her career as a novelist to produce essays on such matters as the truth of John Calvin's writings. But Robinson's Low Church allegiance has hugely benefited her fiction . . . This is an unflinching book.” —Joan Acocella, The New Yorker
“Radiant . . . As in Gilead and Home, Robinson steps away from the conventions of the realistic novel to deal with metaphysical abstractions, signaling by the formality of her language her adoption of another convention, by which characters inhabiting an almost Norman Rockwell-ish world . . . live and think on a spiritual plane . . . [Lila is] a mediation on morality and psychology, compelling in its frankness about its truly shocking subject: the damage to the human personality done by poverty, neglect and abandonment.” —Diane Johnson, The New York Times Book Review
What listeners say about Lila
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Eileen Scholes
- 19-11-17
Brilliant
I listened to this at least 3 times and each time was I more enriched by the story. Great reading/ listening and would recommend this for a book club discussion.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Spirit
- 21-03-15
Excellent
Great to hear Lila's narrative. Moving as always and still enthralled by Ames and how good he strives to be.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- holly bird
- 21-11-14
Gentle and contemplative
What did you like best about Lila: A Novel? What did you like least?
The beautiful prose of Marylyn Robinson, and her effortless story telling.
What will your next listen be?
I would like to say one of her other books but I already have read them all! The three others, Gilead, Housekeeping and Home, and I have to say are wonderful, and I just didn't enjoy this one so much. The story didn't work, I didn't quite believe it, it had a contrived feel to it, and I was very much aware of the fact that it had to fit in with the previous two books which involved the same characters. However, I enjoyed the simple storytelling telling.
Have you listened to any of Maggie Hoffman’s other performances? How does this one compare?
No I have not, so can't say.
Did Lila: A Novel inspire you to do anything?
Well I certainly not going to start reading he bible or go to church! But maybe to live life in a simpler way.
Any additional comments?
Hope Marylynne Robinson will bring out another novel soon.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Margaret Fawcett
- 12-12-15
Wonderful book
This is superb writing: the characters of Lila and the preacher beautifully drawn with a depth of insight that sometimes takes your breath away. What a way to learn about and understand history. The carefully nuanced reading for audible sympathetic and engaging. I highly recommend this wonderful book.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Stylo
- 11-03-17
A wonderful love story
Would you consider the audio edition of Lila: A Novel to be better than the print version?
I have only experienced the audio version, but read 'Home' by Marilynne Robinson. I prefer to read Marilynne Robinson's books because her prose is so beautiful and descriptive there are passages I would like to instantly re-read.
Which character – as performed by Maggie Hoffman – was your favourite?
I particularly liked the Rev. John Ames for his incredible kindness. Lila is a profound, thought-provoking story if at times a little too slow in the telling!
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Lila's thoughts meander back and forth without clear definition which can be confusing especially when listening to them so it would have been good to listen to the book in one sitting.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Barbara E Brown
- 19-07-22
Necessary Pain
A beautiful parable of the necessity of pain for the birthing of joy in real (and always struggling) communion.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ronni Lamont
- 06-07-16
Fabulous book
A gentle story of deep love and faith
Profoundly touching, the affection of the writer for her characters is clear
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Fran Brady
- 24-08-15
Robinson ever disappoints
Where does Lila: A Novel rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Among the best
What did you like best about this story?
The gentleness of the text belies the strength and depth of the storyline and characters. Wonderful language, superb writing
What about Maggie Hoffman’s performance did you like?
She made me believe she WAS Lila! I never grew impatient despite the sometimes slow pace of the novel - that can be a problem with some novels as audios.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Whenever the 'old man' spoke to Lila, especially when he confessed his own doubts about religious matters / biblical dicta. He is such a humble, lovable character. I want to meet him!
Any additional comments?
Please can this become a (well-made) film?
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Maggie Kiely
- 18-08-15
Difficult to follow
I had never heard of this author before but read it as on the Man Booker Prize Longlist.
The book has quite a religious and spiritual element to it focusing on the meaning of life and living. It is set in Gilead Iowa. Researching the author I see she is an intellectual thinker who has worked at the University of Iowa for some years. She is a follower of the thinking of John Calvin. This book is perhaps a place where she expresses her religious beliefs.
The focus of this work is on Lila who is quite a feral creature. She is a vagrant working her way throughout Iowa. The book explores how her life is touched by strangers she meets along the way. Lila does not know her origins as she was taken as a small child by a woman called ‘Doll’ who stated she rescued her from neglect. I was hoping this would be explored further but alas no. I now believe this book is part three of a trilogy with a previous book called ‘Gilead’. I wish I had known this as I felt lost with the story. It was difficult to get into the narrative. I found understanding what was going on difficult at times. What happened to Lila’s mother and her early life? I was unsure if the Reverend would die or if Lila would go off with the child. Maybe there will be a follow on book to this one explaining all this.
The author seems to have a great fondness for the poor and writes about the difficulties of a hand to mouth experience. The relationship between the Reverend John Ames and Lila seems to be a strange one. He is an old man and yet they seem to develop a bond and marry. Lila gets pregnant and has a son knowing she will probably have to bring him up alone due to her husband’s advancing years. We see the progression of their lives with their growing love and respect for each other. Reverend Ames tries to reconcile his faith with the poverty of his flock. This struggle is explored through the beautiful poetic prose and sensitively told by the narrative of Maggie Hoffman. This is a sad book but the use of language lifts it. I did enjoy it but feel somewhat perplexed by it all. I do not know if I would pick up another book by this author.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Monsaraz
- 12-03-21
The homeless underbelly of America
I found this novel puzzling - lots of unanswered questions - not entirely convincing. The backstory of Lila, a girl with no name, no parents, no home - reared as part of a gang of drifting migrant workers who eventually finds a stable home with the lovely John Ames and learns to love. I found it hard to understand quite a lot of the religious and philosophical musings, though they were interesting ... wish I had been able to grasp them because I imagine there would have been a lot of depth there. Definitely worth reading, but not as absorbing as the first two novels of the trilogy.
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