“She knew that was not an honest prayer, and she did not linger over it. The right prayer would have been, Lord . . . I am miserable and bitter at heart, and old fears are rising up in me so that everything I do makes everything worse.”

American novelist and essayist of the late 20th and 21st centuries, Marilynne Robinson is best known for her meditative fiction and nonfiction exploring faith, morality, and the American landscape. Her work often blends intellectual depth with lyrical prose, examining the intersection of belief and human experience.