Marilynne Robinson is the author of three highly acclaimed novels: Housekeeping (1980), Gilead (2004) and Home (2008). Housekeeping was a finalist for the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (US),Gilead was awarded the 2005 Pulitzer, and Home received the 2009 Orange Prize for Fiction (UK).

Her most recent book is a collection of essays entitled When I Was a Child, I Read Books. In the title essay, an account of her childhood in Idaho becomes an exploration of individualism and the myth of the American West.