Sunday book pick: In Marilynne Robinson’s novel ‘Housekeeping,’ a family falls through the cracks

Marilynne Robinson published her debut novel, Housekeeping, in 1980. Then, for the next twenty years, it appeared as though she would write fiction no more. She was interested in nuclear pollution in Britain, she wrote about modern thoughts and thinking, and she was particularly concerned about climate change and the destruction of welfare systems. The world around her was in such a distressful condition that there seemed to be no time to write fiction. Then 2004 arrived, and so did her second novel, Gilead. This was followed by three more novels – Home (2008), Lila (2014), and Jack (2020) – in a (rather) quick succession. Robinson composed hefty titles for her nonfiction writing, but for her novels, one-word titles became her trademark.

Keeping a house

The title of Housekeeping suggests a certain knack for keeping house, or at least of domestcity. However, it is one of the strangest ensembles of family, and the home that they live in is in a derelict condition located in the neglected town of Fingerbone. All in all, there is very little of a house and even littler of its keeping.

Sisters Ruthie and Lucille find themselves in the care of their elderly grandmother after their mother, Helen, disappears – perhaps kills herself – by driving her car over a cliff....

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