"; if(is_file("header.php")) include "header.php"; else include "../header.php"; ?>

Essence of Life Gilead is a leisurely novel that seeks to capture the essence of life--a preacher in his seventies desperately trying to record his own being, person, and history so that his young son will have something to remember him by. John Ames realizes his age, and with the clarity of the dying, trys to impart with this letter the things that he learned from his own father, grandfather, and family. At first the book moves slowly, interposing Ames family history with John's current wonderous observations about his wife and son. It seems as if it will have no coherent plot, but in a way, it does. Woven into John Ames's musings about religion, life, and family is the conflict of his relationship with John Ames Boughton, his best friend's son. Gilead is so well constructed that despite its slow progression, it is not a slow read. From the first gentle words to the last, this story will inspire and teach you and bring warmth into the room where you are reading.