Imagine a ruin so strange it must never have happened.
Told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. This is the story of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in post-colonial Africa.
A modern classic, The Poisonwood Bible has been read and adored by millions worldwide.
I have never read a novel by Barbara Kingsolver that I did not think was brilliant. Her novels are all beautifully written and this book was no exceptions. This is another outstanding work that I loved from the very first page.
There are five very distinct voices in this novel and each one sang with individuality. Four daughters and a mother - as different as chalk and cheese and Ms. Kingsolver allows the reader to develop a close acquaintance with each of them.
I cannot remember reading a book set in the Belgian Congo before so there was much new information for me to glean here. The author captured the atmosphere, as felt by the individual characters, extremely well. She depicted the severity of their living conditions superbly. I was utterly convinced by their surroundings and circumstances.
My one small criticism of this book is that it was slightly too long and I felt it could have been wrapped up quite neatly at an earlier point. Have you read this? Do you agree?
ISBN: 978 0571298846
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Barbara Kingsolver's work has been translated into more than twenty languages and has earned a devoted readership. In 2010 she won the Orange Prize for The Lacuna, and her 2012 novel Flight Behaviour was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction. Before she made her living as a writer, Kingsolver earned degrees in biology and worked as a scientist. She now lives with her family on a farm in southern Appalachia.
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