‘Prodigal’ Praise for an Author

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This appreciation of Barbara Kingsolver combines new material with a partly revised Huffington Post piece I wrote in 2012.

Earlier this month, Barbara Kingsolver’s 2022 novel Demon Copperhead co-won (with Hernan Diaz’s Trust) the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

I’ve yet to get to Kingsolver’s reimagining of Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield, but I’ve read all her other novels, and she’s definitely a deserving award winner. One of my favorite living authors.

Why? She’s progressive, feminist, and her fiction often puts things in a sociopolitical context. But I think many open-minded people of any ideology would find Kingsolver’s work engaging, because her writing style is so fluid and her characters and plots take precedence over polemics. She can also be quite funny at times.

Kingsolver’s most famous novel is of course 1998’s The Poisonwood Bible, a 1999 Pulitzer finalist that should have been the author’s first Pulitzer win. That book is about colonialism, evangelicalism, and other topics, but it’s mostly about the Price family — arrogant missionary father Nathan, long-suffering but ultimately independent mother Orleanna, and their four fascinating daughters.

Just two years later came another Kingsolver masterpiece, albeit one not quite as ambitious. That was 2000’s Prodigal Summer, which weaves three separate characters/plot lines into a very satisfying, interconnected whole. While ecological concerns infuse the novel, it’s the three protagonists (park ranger Deanna, farm widow Lusa, and tree expert Garnett) who stick in a reader’s mind.

In 2009, Kingsolver’s The Lacuna was published. Again, the author used her fiction to address sociopolitical matters (such as getting smeared during the McCarthy era and being gay), but main characters Harrison William Shepherd (who eventually becomes a novelist) and Violet Brown (his delightful and efficient secretary) are memorable creations. Plus real-life historical figures Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Leon Trotsky, and (briefly) Richard Nixon appear in the book’s pages.

Then came the absorbing Flight Behavior in 2012, about a farm woman (Dellarobia Turnbow) in an unhappy marriage who changes her life even as the climate is changing — a major sub-theme of the book.

In 2018, Kingsolver kept the compelling novels coming with Unsheltered, which I discussed in this blog post a couple months ago.

The 1956-born author’s earlier novels — The Bean Trees (1988), Animal Dreams (1990), and Pigs in Heaven (1993) — are not as multifaceted but still very good, as are her short-story collections such as Homeland.

Kingsolver’s canon also includes nonfiction releases such as Animal, Vegetable, Miracle — about the benefits of eating locally grown, unprocessed foods.

(That skilled 2007 book occasionally goes on interesting tangents, such as when Kingsolver mentions her inclusion in right-winger Bernard Goldberg’s biased 2005 book 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America. All 100 of Goldberg’s subjects were left-of-center, and most of them admirable people. Kingsolver was a good sport about that “honor,” writing: “My thrilling new status had no impact on my household position. I still had to wait till the comics were read to get the Sudoku puzzle, and the dog ignored me as usual.”)

If you’ve read Kingsolver, what are your thoughts about her work? Or, if you’d like, you could mention some of your favorite living authors. Among mine, besides Kingsolver, are (in alphabetical order) Isabel Allende, Margaret Atwood, Lee Child, Fannie Flagg, John Grisham, Liane Moriarty, J.K. Rowling, Zadie Smith, and Amor Towles, to name just a few.

My literary-trivia book is described and can be purchased here: Fascinating Facts About Famous Fiction Authors and the Greatest Novels of All Time.

In addition to this weekly blog, I write the 2003-started/award-winning “Montclairvoyant” topical-humor column for Baristanet.com every Thursday. The latest piece — which uses a Wizard of Oz theme to lament school district budget cuts and municipal secrecy — is here.

82 thoughts on “‘Prodigal’ Praise for an Author”

  1. Late to the party, but I have an excuse: Been reading Robert Galbraith’s Cormoran Strike mysteries. Finished my third yesterday, and I look forward to my next, though the last, and I think those that follow, are each the size of a directory for a huge multinational with branches in every town on earth with over 100 souls in population. Huge! And unlike my imaginary directory, the lines go all the way from left to right, so there’s actually more text in a Galbraith.

    JK Rowlings, the writer behind the Galbraith pseudonym, is no better than the field as a concocter of tangled tales and hidden motivations. Her criminals are awful and like so many in crime books nowadays, psychopathic under whatever veneer they have obscured themselves beneath. One does, as the pages turn, wonder who has killed whom, usually several.

    But the main drive of readerly compulsion is the developing relationship between detectives Robin Ellacott, college dropout with a boyfriend and violence in her past and Cormoran Strike, large and grizzled monopedalian ( to employ a Cook and Moore neologism) army veteran, and not whatever convoluted, many-layered crime or criminal they they investigate. Across, to date, in my experience, a thousand pages,plus.

    I made the mistake of starting the series 2 books in, and I wish I hadn’t. If interested, don’t do as I’ve done: start with the first. I know I’ll read the first books eventually, even soon,but knowing what happens, or doesn’t, between detectives in the books that follow has dampened my enthusiasm, for now, for going back.

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    • Thank you, jhNY! I’ve read all six of Robert Galbraith’s (J.K. Rowling’s) Cormoran Strike/Robin Ellacott novels and, yes, they’ve been getting quite long. As was the case with Rowling’s later “Harry Potter” books. But I like all six Strike/Ellacott novels a lot — both for the romantic-longing dynamics between Robin and Cormoran and for the rather complex mysteries. Probably more for the romantic-longing dynamics (as also seems to be the case with you) but the mysteries have also held my interest.

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  2. Hi Dave,

    Unfortunately, I haven’t read any Kingsolver yet, but “The Poisonwood Bible” is in the top 30 of my TBR, so hopefully some time this year.

    As for living authors, I’d probably have to say Stephen King. I haven’t read much of his newer stuff, and I haven’t loved the few that I have read, but when I think about how much of this older stuff I’ve read, it’s probably more than any other author, and almost never disappoints.

    There are some contemporary books that I’ve read and loved, and now want to read more books by those authors, but just haven’t got there yet. I’m sure when I get to multiple books by them, they’ll be on my favourite writers list though. They include (but I’m sure I’m forgetting some) Cormac McCarthy, John Irving, David Mitchell, Charlotte Wood, Khaled Housseini.

    I’ll also soon be reading my first Fannie Flagg thanks to this blog and am expecting to enjoy it very much ❤

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  3. Dave,
    I was here yesterday then the doorbell rang.
    Anyway, it will come to you as no surprise that my prodigal praise is piled upon Joy Fielding.
    Having read 23 of her 30 novels, I can say she’s a fabulous writer, and I am never disappointed.
    Thank you!!!!

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  4. Sorry I’m getting to this so late, but as a fan of Barbara Kingsolver who has read and LOVED Demon Copperhead, I had to add my two cents’ worth! I’ve read six other Kingsolver books and liked them all very much. In fact, Animal Dreams spoke to me in a way few books ever have, and I reread it periodically. But I tried twice to get through Poisonwood Bible right after it came out and could never finish it, although, on the second reading, I got more than halfway through, so I gave it a fair chance. The truth was I basically couldn’t stand it! So reading so many comments about how terrific it is makes me think I should try again. But I still think I couldn’t handle that horrible father. Dave, I think I’ve read everything both J K Rowling (in her own name and as Galbraith) and Amor Towles have written, and they are brilliant. I might add Nick Hornby, but I’m still thinking about it. Thanks for a fun post that reminded me of how much pleasure Barbara Kingsolver has given me!

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    • Thank you, Kim! I remember you recommending “Demon Copperhead”; I will try to read it in the next few months as I work my through a long “queue” of novels. 🙂

      Glad you enjoyed other Barbara Kingsolver books, but sorry “The Poisonwood Bible” wasn’t more to your liking. We all react differently to different novels. 🙂 The awful father in “TPB” was indeed a downer; fortunately, the mother and four daughters were better characters to spend time with.

      I’ve also read everything J.K. Rowling/Robert Galbraith has written — she is indeed brilliant. As for Amor Towles, I loved, loved, loved “A Gentleman in Moscow,” liked “The Lincoln Highway” a lot, and have “Rules of Civility” on a bookshelf waiting to be read.

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    • Thank you, M.B.! Yes, “Unsheltered” is great! I was impressed that Kingsolver, after about 30 years of writing novels, was still hitting them out of the park. And, like you, I’m looking forward to reading “Demon Copperhead”!

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  6. Hi Dave, I have to say upfront that most of the authors of books I read are dead. This is the case even for the children’s books I read. However, I do read books by Indie authors, most of whom are alive, and I also have just finished Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford with is amazing. I have really loved it. I also enjoyed The Second Mrs Astor by Shana Abe and The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. Oh, and I enjoyed The Museum of Ordinary People by Mike Gayle.

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  7. I’ve been lost in the non-fiction section for a while. I tried to fit in 1 or 2 books of fiction and it didn’t work out at all. Feels like I’ve been reading Max Tegmark’s “Our Mathematical Universe” forever. I can tell you one thing for sure–there may indeed be multiverses, but I highly doubt you can read 2 different books at the same time in any of them. Ha! So back to my TBR list. My fav author is Murakami yet he’s fallen from first place and is now behind David Grann and Tim Blake Nelson. Guess I’m fickle since whatever book I find myself currently reading, the author soon becomes my fave. Hopefully, I’ll get to read Kingsolver soon, perhaps somewhere in a parallel universe. Nice post Dave. Susi

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    • Thank you, Susi! I enjoyed your multiverse references. 🙂 And reading nonfiction is a very good thing. I’ve had several stretches of reading more nonfiction than fiction (often biographies) before I went into mostly fiction mode a few years before I started blogging.

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      • Thanks Dave. In fact, I’m considering pausing Tegmark’s audio book for awhile since it’s become really tedious. I have to think about the theories he presents, so it’s listen, think, listen, think… Yikes. I miss some good old fiction. Perhaps I’ll try one of the Kingsolver’s books you mentioned as my summer read esp. now that my double vision has mostly resolved. Susi

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  8. Thanks for this post, Dave. I read The Poisonwood Bible, but I haven’t read her other books. I think I need to get them on the list. I do enjoy authors who can weave a few threads together and still come out with an interesting story.

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    • Thank you, Dan! I completely agree with you about liking novels in which various threads are woven together well. Barbara Kingsolver is an expert at that; her books can be kind of complex while still being totally readable.

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  9. What an interesting and thought-provoking post, Dave! Unfortunately I have never ever read a book by Barbara Kingslover and her many topics she writes about, which means that for me it’s high time to change that:) Many thanks for your commitment.

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    • Thank you, Martina! 🙂 I totally understand that all of us haven’t read many a good author; so little time to get to even a fraction of writers. But I think you would enjoy Barbara Kingsolver’s work.

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  10. Copperhead is great! I just read it a month or two ago. I liked the Lacuna as much as Poisonwood Bible, probably because I totally loved the first half of the book. Big fan of both Rivera and Kahlo.

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    • Thank you, Jim! Glad you enjoyed “Demon Copperhead”!

      “The Lacuna” IS an excellent novel, though I liked “The Poisonwood Bible” somewhat more. The parts of “The Lacuna” with Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera were really well done.

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  11. A fascinating post Dave. I thoroughly enjoyed it. And that must have been quite an article you wrote for the Huffington Post. And you’re right about The Poisonwood Bible. It’s a tremendous book in its span. Fav living authors? Had to check that Thomas Kenneally is still alive—bad me. I do like Grisham and Atwood, I’m a big fan of Kate Furnivall. There.

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    • Thank you, Shehanne! Yes, “The Poisonwood Bible” is an impressive, very ambitious novel. And it’s understandable when one doesn’t always know if an author who has been around a long time is still alive. I looked up Thomas Kenneally, and he’s 87. As for Kate Furnivall, I need to give her work a try!

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      • Lol, re Kenneally. I don’t feel so bad now. He is certainly a good age. AND written for a long time too. I came acros Kate Furnivall with her first book as it came with a lot of publicity. It looked like the kind of historical I like–more a behind the scenes of a given time for those who lived through it, than the events themselves–and I needed a nice long holdday read in the days before kindle when suitcase space was limted and we were going to the middle of nowhere. I’ve since read them all. And I know there’s a new one in the pipeline. She’s also a really nice, down to earth, supportive lady.

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  12. I agree with you and Rebecca, Dave that “The Poisonwood Bible” should have won. I’ve read nearly all of Kingsolver’s work, and this one remains my favorite. Her multiple narratives were outstanding. Louise Erdrich’s “Love Medicine” series uses this technique to great effect as well.

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    • Thank you, Mary Jo! Wonderful that you’re a major Barbara Kingsolver fan! Yes, “The Poisonwood Bible” should have won the Pulitzer in 1999. Not only was it the best American novel of 1998, but one of the better ones of the past few decades. And I agree that when multiple narratives are done well, it makes for GREAT reading.

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  14. I agree Dave. Barbara Kingsolver should have received the Pulitzer Prize for The Poisonwood Bible. There was a great deal of social comment that spanned the lives of the Price family. I marveled at her ability to understand the cultural nuances of two continents during a transitional and pivotal time in history.

    As you noted, Barbara Kingsolver has written several bestselling novels and is recognized for her environmental activism and her work in promoting sustainable agriculture, all of which are contained in The Poisonwood Bible.

    This past year I have explored authors who offer compelling narratives: Christine Coulson “Metropolitan Stories”, Bridget Collins “The Betrayals”, Diana Giovinazzo “The Woman in Red”, Tarquin Hall “The Case of the Reincarnated Client”, Madeline Miller “Circe”. I have also enjoyed books from our community – Shehanne Moore, Teagan Geneviene, Catherine Cavendish, Robbie Cheadle, Diana Wallace Peach, to name a few. My gratitude to writers who bring us stories that enrich our lives.

    Of course, I must leave a quote. This is one of my favorites from Circe by Madeline Miller – to live, change is essential.

    “I thought once that gods are the opposite of death, but I see now they are more dead than anything, for they are unchanging, and can hold nothing in their hands.”
    Madeline Miller, Circe

    Thank you for another great post – I’ll be back for the follow-up discussion.

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