Marilynne Robinson
1856-06-16 06:14:55
John Brown in Gilead
In Gilead (2004) Rev. Ames remembers his grandfather's loud conversations with Jesus in the family parlor. He also recalls family lore which maintains that his grandfather sheltered John Brown and his gang when they were on the lam after violent attacks on slaveowners. The attack brought bloody reprisals from vigilante slaveowners. The "Bleeding Kansas" crisis resulted from the Kansas-Nebraska Act directive that popular sovereignty would determine whether the territories entered the Union as slave or free states.
1878-06-01 20:06:20
Rev. Ames' Siblings Die
His brother John and his sister both die in an influenza epidemic. His older brother Robert, who survived, will refer to him as "Second John".
1880-11-03 10:54:44
Rev. Ames is Born
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1922-04-01 17:38:54
Lila is Born
Lila tries to remember her mother in this passage
1926-03-20 07:13:11
Doll Picks Up Lila
Lila, a girl who looks to be four or five, has been deposited in a migrant house, and woman named Doll steals her, and brings her to another house to take care of Lila.
1926-03-21 05:21:43
Doll and Lila's Month in the Woman's House
Lila and Doll stay with the old woman who cares for them for a month while Lila recuperates from a fever
1926-06-01 09:35:34
Lila and Doll Join Doane's People
Doll and Lila meet Doane and his wife Marcell, two migrant workers who travel in pack of other poor white workers. The couple and the others of the group become like family to Lila and Doll.
1929-10-24 14:07:51
Stock Market Crash
October 24, 1929: Stock Market Crash begins the Great Depression.
1931-03-21 05:21:43
Lila Attends School
Doll takes a job in Tammany, Iowa so Lila, at age 10, can attend school for about a year. They are forced to leave town abruptly when Doll sees someone from her past.
1932-08-03 14:07:51
Lila and Doll's Bad Tmes Hit
"Their own bad times started when the mule died, two years or so before everyone else started getting poorer and the wind turned dirty" (15)
1934-05-09 08:31:43
Dust Bowl Storms Hit Great Plains
Beginning on May 9, 1934, a strong, two-day dust storm removed massive amounts of Great Plains topsoil in one of the worst such storms of the Dust Bowl. (Wikipedia)
1934-06-01 00:00:00
Lila and Doll Separate from Doane's People
Due to the breakage of a wagon and the hard times delivered by the stock market crash, Doll and Lila separate from the group, causing their ultimate economic downfall
1937-05-27 10:52:55
Doll Sends Lila Off to Live on Her Own
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1938-05-27 10:52:55
Doll Gets Into A Knife Fight and Kills a Man
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1938-06-27 10:52:55
Lila Goes To Work in a Brothel in St. Louis
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1941-12-07 03:15:31
Pearl Harbor Attacked.
Lila mentions the American Women Pilots who piloted aircraft across the ocean during World War Two.
1944-08-02 15:06:05
Lila Leaves the Brothel in St. Louis
Lila leaves the brothel in St. Louis and finds work cleaning rooms in a hotel.
1947-05-25 03:31:46
Lila Wanders Into Rev. Ames Church
Lila wandered into Rev. Ames' church on the Sunday of the Pentecost, May 25th in 1947
1947-09-15 22:56:15
Lila Is Baptized
Lila undergoes a baptism in order to feel more connected to her faith and rid of the confusion experiences of her childhood. However, the baptism does not disconnect her from her path and she feels the same, even worse after the event
1947-10-13 17:56:01
Lila and Rev. Ames Are Married
Lila and Rev. Ames are married in Rev. Boughton's living room.
1948-05-13 15:58:46
Lila Realizes She Is Pregnant
Lila realizes she is pregnant after six months of marriage to Reverend Ames
1948-11-10 02:26:57
Lila Finds A Runaway at the Cabin
Lila walks out to the cabin to find the money she has saved in a jar, but she finds instead a runaway living there and listens to his story.
1949-03-10 14:33:56
Lila Gives Birth to a Boy Named Robert
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1955-12-05 12:41:27
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rev. Ames will die later this year.