55 pages • 1 hour read
Housekeeping
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Summary and Study Guide
Overview
Housekeeping (1980) is a novel by Marilynne Robinson that follows the upbringing of two sisters, Ruthie and Lucille Stone, in Fingerbone, Idaho, in the 1950s. This is the first novel by Marilynne Robinson. It was awarded the PEN/Hemingway Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, an award the author later won for her novel Gilead (2004). Beyond Housekeeping, Robinson is most known for Gilead (2004) and Home (2008). Housekeeping, which has been named to numerous best-100 lists both of all time and for the 20th-century, follows themes of transience, family bonds, and the meaning of housekeeping. It was made into a film, which also has the same name, in 1987. Robinson is one of the most respected American novelists of the contemporary era.
This guide uses the 40th anniversary Kindle edition of this novel published in 2020 by Picador.
Content Warning: This novel contains depictions of death by suicide, mental health conditions, and child abandonment. Characters in the novel engage in stereotypical depictions of nomadic or transient people and unhoused individuals.
Plot Summary
Housekeeping is primarily set in the 1950s in Fingerbone, Idaho, and centers around the protagonist, Unlock all 55 pages of this Study Guide Plus, gain access to 8,900+ more expert-written Study Guides. Including features:
Related Titles
By Marilynne Robinson
