Books
by Barbara Kingsolver
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Demon Copperhead |
A brilliant reimagining of the story and characters in David Copperfield transported from poverty-stricken Victorian London to a poor community in the southern Appalachians in the midst of the opioid crisis. Demon is born to a single mother in an abandoned trailer 'like a little blue prizefighter'. He will need that fighting spirit, buckets of charm and a quick wit to survive. Epic, fantastic, gripping, angry, powerful, electrifying - all of these!
(Jenny Baker - bwl 108 Spring 2023) |
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Flight Behaviour |
Dellarobia - young, rebellious wife-mother-daughter-in-law - experiences an epiphany as she witnesses the extraordinary arrival of millions of Monarch butterflies on a remote Appalachian mountainside, their winter habitat in Mexico destroyed by logging. Life for her and her small God-fearing community becomes entwined in the fate of the butterflies as the world's media, sightseers and tourists descend and the temperature drops ever closer to freezing. Another winner from this practised weaver of tales.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 68 Spring 2013) |
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Prodigal Summer |
Another book which immediately draws you into a world unfamiliar to most people, I should think (the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia). Kingsolver concentrates on 3 women of different generations and backgrounds, and the way their lives intertwine and eventually influence each other. There are men in the book too, but the women take the lead in almost all things. Written with depth and understanding, and love. I thoroughly enjoyed reading every page.
(Julie Higgins - bwl 12 January 2002) |
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Small Wonder |
Might Kingsolver as essayist be even better than Kingsolver as novelist? This collection of essays - many bearing on the post 9/11 American psyche - are full of absolutely sane, quirkily intelligent and enlightening insights and comments on life. On Nature (she trained as a biologist), the politics of fear, television-watching, chicken-keeping, flying, her children . . . she's thoughtful, even philosophical, but never ponderous. On the contrary she makes us think while we laugh out loud. Excellent!
(Annabel Bedini - bwl 49 January 2009) |
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The Bean Trees |
Not as profound or as riveting as The Poisonwood Bible, The Bean Trees is nonetheless a memorable tale about a tough-minded and cocky young girl, Taylor, who sets off from her hometown in rural Kentucky and ends up in Arizona. The tone is childishly chatty, delightfully humourous. But there are poignant moments also when Taylor confronts child abuse, government authorities, separation and social injustice. By the end of the book I was sorry to let her go.
(Pamela Jaunin - bwl 25 August 2004) |
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The Lacuna |
After ten silent years a new gem from the author of The Poisonwood Bible (bwl 4, 14 and 23). Written in the form of a diary that may or may not have been burned, we follow its perpetrator from Mexican childhood to his involvement with Frida Kahlo, Rivera and Trotsky which inexorably leads to his subsequent downfall in 50's America. Breathtaking prose, characters brimming with life. If you read nothing else this year, read this one.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 56 Spring 2010) |
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The Poisonwood Bible |
Fanatical Baptist missionary takes family to the Congo during Independence. The accounts of his beleaguered wife and daughters describe the alternately hilarious and harrowing effects of clashing belief systems on their family and the village's social structure. The consequences extend into the women's later lives, each one articulating a relevant theme, from political skulduggery (fascinating) to personal redemption (American-style). Too many serious intentions may end up diluting the truly enthralling atmosphere of the first half.
(Annabel Bedini - bwl 4 July 2000) |
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The Poisonwood Bible |
Set in the second half of the 20th century, this is the story of an American Baptist preacher who goes on an assignment to the Congo with his unhappy family, which breaks up into small groups. The chapters deal with one person at a time and reveal a fascinating insight into other people's lives. I thought the book incredibly well written and researched and was very glad to have read it.
(Charles Moncreiffe - bwl 14 July 2002) |
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The Poisonwood Bible |
A fundamentalist Baptist missionary uproots his family from their American way of life, and deposits them in a primitive African village; the Belgian Congo of the 1950s. Their extraordinary life story unfolding over three decades is told by his wife and four daughters. Their very different personalities reflect on the culture, with political, religious and personal consequences. It is an enthralling epic, touching on every aspect of human existence, endurance and final estrangement.
(Mary Standing - bwl 23 April 2004) |
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The Poisonwood Bible |
This is an amazing story, certainly one of my favourites, exploring a missionary family's life. The American family is made up of four sisters and their parents. Most of the novel is set in Africa and each character deals with their situation in an entirely different way. The reader receives multiple perspectives. The book describes the culture extremely well and is clearly well researched. It is very moving and appears realistic. Favourite read of 2010.
(Eloise May - bwl 60 Spring 2011) |
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Unsheltered |
Two families, lives entwined round a crumbling New Jersey villa. 2017, climate change is threatening, Trump is a candidate in the presidential election, Willa is battling to nurture her difficult family. In the 1870's, science teacher Thatcher Greenwood - with the backing of his neighbour, real-life, botanist Mary Treat - must fight the establishment to defend the writings of Darwin. Sounds heavy-going. Absolutely not. It's a Kingsolver gem.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 106 Autumn 2022) |
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