Like all of Robinson's books, Lila is slow and rich and filled with gorgeous prose and open spaces. Those who have read other books in this series (I refuse to say "trilogy" since that forecloses the possibility of another book) know a bit about Lila. She is featured in the first book, Gilead. This book is told completely from Lila's perspective, and she is not an easy woman with whom to spend 260 pages. Lila is difficult, she is defensive and mean, uncultured and sometimes uncivil. But there are reasons for all of those qualities, and she is also smart and engaged, honest and loyal. Most of all she is interesting. She asks questions, good ones, that no one I know ever asks. She does nothing because that is the way things are done, she is never reflexive but rather always reflective. Her sense of honor may differ from ours, but it is so immutable it is hard not to admire her. It is also hard not to celebrate when she finds comfort, finds perhaps the only person in the universe who understands her and never tries to take things she is unable or unwilling to give. Prepare to spend hours on internal dialogue on the nature of grace, both personal and divine. I read The Goldfinch just before this book (which I loved, this is not an insult to that wonderful book) but this 260 page book took me longer to read than that 760 page book. That is not because I was bored or disengaged, but because there is so much to think about, I found I would read a couple pages and then spend half an hour thinking about something I found within that text. This novel is like a bit of Christian Talmud, a commentary that illuminates the source material for faith. I have never spent so much time examining my faith and my relationship to others in the world, and I am the better for it.