190,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿 

Come visit us in-store this weekend! 📚 Open 7 days, 8:30am–5pm

Housekeeping

3.81 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 57,719 ratings, 7,486 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson explores the lives of two sisters, Ruth and Lucille, who are raised by a series of relative caretakers in a small, isolated town in Idaho. Set against an evocative natural backdrop, the novel delves into themes of family, solitude, and the quest for belonging as the sisters navigate their tumultuous upbringing and the pull of transience. Robinson's poetic prose offers a meditative reflection on impermanence and the enduring ties that shape personal identity.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2799
OVERNIGHT NZ-WIDE DELIVERY

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you appreciate beautifully crafted prose that explores deep themes of family, loss, and the search for belonging. Set against a hauntingly vivid natural landscape, this narrative offers a poignant, reflective experience for those who find resonance in introspective and richly detailed storytelling.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Acclaimed on publication as a contemporary classic, Housekeeping is the story of Ruth and Lucille, orphans growing up in the small desolate town of Fingerbone in the vast northwest of America.

By the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Home and Gilead, a modern American masterpiece by an author whose work 'defines universal truths about what it means to be human' (Barack Obama)

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Housekeeping is the story of Ruth and Lucille, orphans growing up in the small, desolate town of Fingerbone in the vast northwest of America. Abandoned by a succession of relatives, the sisters find themselves in the care of Sylvie, the remote and enigmatic sister of their dead mother.

Steeped in imagery of the bleak wintry landscape around them, the sisters' struggle towards adulthood is powerfully portrayed in a novel about loss, loneliness, and transience.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Housekeeping is praised for its precise and beautiful prose, earning comparisons to the intricate work of seasoned authors. Reviews highlight the novel's delightful command of language and its affectionate portrayal of characters, encouraging readers to savour each sentence's richness. Readers are urged to take their time with the novel to fully appreciate its literary artistry.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780571230082

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 07 July 2005

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Faber & Faber

Edition: Main

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 13.0mm

Width: 126.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 176g

Pages: 224

About the Author

Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson's first novel, was acclaimed by critics and later filmed by Bill Forsyth. She is also the author of Gilead, winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and a non-fiction title, the controversial Mother Country. Marilynne Robinson lives in New England.

Also by Marilynne Robinson

View all
  • Gilead
    In 1956, toward the end of Reverend John Ames's life, he begins a letter to his young son, a kind of last testament to his remarkable forebears. Gilead is a deeply moving novel that explores themes of faith, family, and the legacies we leave behind. Through the eyes of Reverend Ames, readers are invited to reflect on the complexities of...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Backorder
    Ships mid November
  • On Sale
    18% off
    Reading Genesis
    A brilliant and dramatic close reading of the first book of the Bible focussing on the complex relationship with humankind 'A work of exceptional wisdom and imagination' — DR ROWAN WILLIAMS, DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Rich and provoking... Robinson has masterfully traced a sense of wonder back to its ancient, remarkable source' — JULIAN COMAN, OBSERVER Reading Genesis is alive with questions...
    Paperback
    $2300
    Usually:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Lila
    WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD AN OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK Lila, by Marilynne Robinson, tells the profound story of a woman, Lila, who finds herself homeless and adrift after years of wandering through the harsh landscapes of the American Midwest. Seeking refuge from a storm, she steps into a small-town Iowa church, where an unexpected turn of...
    Paperback
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Absence of Mind
    One of our best contemporary writers explores the tension between science and religion and reveals how our concept of mind determines how we understand and value human nature and human civilization. In this ambitious book, acclaimed writer Marilynne Robinson applies her astute intellect to some of the most vexing topics in the history of human thought—science, religion, and consciousness. Crafted...
    Paperback
    $3099
    Available
    Ships in 3-4 weeks
  • Jack
    '[Her work] defines universal truths about what it means to be human' Barack Obama 'Marilynne Robinson is one of the greatest writers of our time' Sunday Times Jack is the fourth in Robinson's luminous, profound Gilead series and perhaps the best yet' Observer Marilynne Robinson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the American National Humanities Medal, returns to the world...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Gilead (Oprah's Book Club)
    A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK - WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION - NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER - A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK - MORE THAN 1 MILLION COPIES SOLD Quietly powerful [and] moving. O, The Oprah Magazine (recommended reading) Gilead, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle...
    Paperback
    $5100
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • Home
    WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2009 AN OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK Home follows the story of Jack Boughton, the prodigal son who has been gone for twenty years. He returns home seeking refuge and to make peace with the past. A bad boy from childhood, an alcoholic who cannot hold down a job, Jack is perpetually at odds...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Givenness Of Things
    Robinson has plumbed the depths of the human spirit in her trilogy of novels—Pulitzer Prize-winning Gilead, Orange Prize-winning Home, and National Book Critics Circle Award-winning Lila—and in her moving essay collection When I Was a Child I Read Books. Now, in The Givenness of Things, she brings a profound sense of awe and an incisive mind to the essential questions...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Home (Oprah's Book Club)
    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK - NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST - NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK - WINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE A WASHINGTON POST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR - A LOS ANGELES TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR - A SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR "[Robinson's] prose is...
    Paperback
    $5300
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • When I Was A Child I Read Books
    Of Marilynne Robinson, Michael Arditti said that there is 'no contemporary novelist whose work I would rather read'. However, she is not only a writer of sharp, subtly moving prose, but also a rigorous thinker and incisive essayist. In this luminous new collection, she returns to the themes which have preoccupied her bestselling novels: the place literature has in life,...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Housekeeping
    "In the plain-spokenness of its language, the grace and dignity of its characters, the simplicity of its story and its intimations of spiritual transcendence, Housekeeping is a book that transformed how I see my place in the world." - David Marchese, The New York Times Magazine Winner of the Pen/Hemingway Award A modern classic, Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping is the story...
    Paperback
    $5100
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • Lila (Oprah's Book Club)
    A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK - NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST - NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER - A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK "Marilynne Robinson's Lila is an enthralling meditation on belief, suffering and grace." -- O, the Oprah Magazine "Writing in lovely, angular prose that has the high loneliness of an old bluegrass...
    Paperback
    $5100
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks

More from General Fiction

View all
  • Yesteryear
    A BOLD AND BITING SATIRE. WILL HAVE YOU GASPING TO THE FINAL PAGE — Nita Prose WICKEDLY FUNNY, BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN AND FRIGHTENINGLY PERCEPTIVE — Abigail Dean INVENTIVE, ADDICTIVE, A WILD RIDE — Ashley Audrain SHOT THROUGH WITH HUMOUR AND LACED WITH DARKNESS — Clare Mackintosh The Stepford Wives meets The Handmaid's Tale — Hannah Deitch My name was Natalie Heller...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3699
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Theo of Golden
    THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON'For anything to be truly good, there must be love in it. Nothing is what it's supposed to be if love is not at the core.' One morning, a stranger arrives in the town of Golden. No one knows who he is or where he came from…His name is Theo and he's arrived there by chance –...
    Paperback
    $2899
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Wedding People
    'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people — but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    A Court of Splintered Harmony
    Romance, danger, and intrigue await you in the breathtaking sixth book in the #1 bestselling Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) series.What was broken will be remade.Deep in the heart of the continent, Koschei the Deathless is stirring. Though he's been bound to a mountain lake for millennia, the insidious threat of his return now spreads across the Fae territories,...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3699
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    Threshing Day
    The next book in the blockbuster Empyrean series, Threshing Day contains thirteen stories starring your favorite characters and their dragons. The deluxe first edition includes sixteen beautiful original full-color illustrations by artist Joe Requeza.    Rebecca Yarros is the #1 New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of over twenty novels, including Fourth Wing and In the...
    Hardback
    $6999
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Throne of Glass Box Set (Paperback)
    Enter the realm. Unleash the darkness. Live the legend. Discover the worldwide phenomenon of the #1 New York Times-bestselling Throne of Glass series in this gorgeous 8-book box set! In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She has no love for the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass, but she has not...
    Set
    $12400
    Elsewhere:
    $15500
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Assassin’s Apprentice
    Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb marks the beginning of an extraordinary adventure in the rich and immersive world of the Six Duchies. Set against the backdrop of a kingdom teetering on the brink of civil war, this gripping tale introduces readers to FitzChivalry Farseer, a royal bastard whose existence threatens the stability of the crown. When the crown prince's secret...
    Paperback
    $1900
    Elsewhere:
    $2299
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • A Court of Thorns and Roses Paperback Box Set (5 books)
    All five of the Court of Thorns and Roses paperbacks packaged together in a gorgeous box set. "Passionate, violent, sexy and daring." —USA TODAY on A Court of Thorns and Roses Feyre is a huntress. The skin of a wolf would bring enough gold to feed her sisters for a month. But the life of a magical creature comes at...
    Set
    $9999
    Elsewhere:
    $12495
    (4)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • John of John
    The stunning new novel from the Booker Prize-winning, Sunday Times-bestselling author of Shuggie Bain and Young Mungo.'John of John has the emotional range and sense of sympathy of his earlier books, but this book is special, it has an urgency, an immediacy, a brilliant sense of place, the drama of fierce emotion repressed, concealed and volcanically exposed' - Colm Tóibín'To read John of John is to move to...
    Paperback
    $3099
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (4)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    Chain Reaction
    Jack Reacher, \"the coolest continuing series character\" (Stephen King), returns in a brand new, pulse-pounding read from Lee and Andrew Child. The world’s bestselling hero is back in a brand new, high-octane adventure! ‘She knew that finding Reacher would not be easy . . .’ Washington DC. General Susan Turner needs help from the only guy she knows will get...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • A Court of Wings and Ruin
    The third instalment of the GLOBAL PHENOMENON, romantic fantasy epic and TikTok sensation, ACOTAR. From multi-million and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas. In A Court of Wings and Ruin, the gripping third book of the ACOTAR series, Feyre Archeron faces the ultimate battle for her world. Having returned to the Spring Court, she is determined to gather...
    Paperback
    $2100
    Elsewhere:
    $2299
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Things We Never Say
    Internationally bestselling and prize-winning author Elizabeth Strout's new novel tells the story of a chance incident in a man's life—a poignant meditation on loneliness, friendship, and free will in a capsizing world. Artie Dam is a man with a secret. He spends his days teaching history to high schoolers, expanding their young minds, correcting their casual cruelties, and lending a...
    Hardback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 190,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.

General Fiction lists from the team

Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!