Lila by Marilynne Robinson
Lila by Marilynne Robinson This is the third book in the Gilead series. It is told from the perspective of Reverend Ames's young wife, Lila, and follows her life from childhood up to the birth of the child she has with Ames. As a young child Lila is "stolen" by a woman named Doll after she is left outside of her home during the night. She lives with a bunch of people who seem to not care about her at all. Doll takes her and cares for her while they follow a transient group around the mid-western farm circuit in search of work during the Depression. Doll is a rough woman who teaches Lila not to really care about what happens in life, just to get by and to not take what doesn't belong to her. Doll eventually is arrested for killing a man, presumably Lila's father who may have come looking for her. Afterward, Lila makes her way to St. Louis and winds up at a brothel, where she fails to make it as a lady of the night, instead spending her time cleaning the place. Sh...