Sigh, Marilynne Robinson, you are so good at writing. I actually bought this a year ago and then was scared to read it because I've been reading so much YA lit that I didn't think I was up to tackling this. But, duh, it was great. It had enough tiny suspenses and it was so well-written that I moved through it much faster than I had anticipated. (When I think of MR, I think of beautiful writing, but also a very leisurely pace.)

It's been awhile since I read [b:Gilead|68210|Gilead|Marilynne Robinson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1316637613s/68210.jpg|2481792] so I'm not sure how closely this ties into it, except that Ames is in it as a peripheral character. I just don't remember how much the Boughtons were in Gilead. But it didn't really hinder my enjoyment of the book at all, so, yay.