AJ Dunn Reads

  Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson Ruth and Lucille's mother drives her car into a lake. The same lake their grandfather perished in. They are left with their grandmother who takes care of them for a few years before she passes. The grandmother's nervous, cautious, and gossipy sisters come to care for them until they decide to write to the girls' aunt Sylvie to see if she will come and relive them of their burden. Sylvie is transient and the girls fear she is unstable, that she will leave them or try to kill herself as their mother did. As they mature, Lucille becomes embarrassed by Sylvie's nature. Both girls continue to believe one day Sylvie will board one of the trains that passes through their town (Fingerbone) and disappear forever. Lucille begins to pretend their mother didn't abandon them and kill herself. She makes up stories about her instead. The girls are growing apart; Lucille accuses Ruth of becoming like Sylvie and their mother. Lucille wants to esc...