The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver

The Poisonwood Bible

By Barbara Kingsolver

  • Release Date: 2009-10-13
  • Genre: Literary Fiction
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 872 Ratings

Description

New York Times Bestseller • Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize • An Oprah's Book Club Selection

“Powerful . . . [Kingsolver] has with infinitely steady hands worked the prickly threads of religion, politics, race, sin and redemption into a thing of terrible beauty.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review

The Poisonwood Bible, now celebrating its 25th anniversary, established Barbara Kingsolver as one of the most thoughtful and daring of modern writers. Taking its place alongside the classic works of postcolonial literature, it is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in Africa.

The story is 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. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it—from garden seeds to Scripture—is calamitously transformed on African soil.

The novel is set against one of the most dramatic political chronicles of the twentieth century: the Congo's fight for independence from Belgium, the murder of its first elected prime minister, the CIA coup to install his replacement, and the insidious progress of a world economic order that robs the fledgling African nation of its autonomy. Against this backdrop, Orleanna Price reconstructs the story of her evangelist husband's part in the Western assault on Africa, a tale indelibly darkened by her own losses and unanswerable questions about her own culpability. Also narrating the story, by turns, are her four daughters—the teenaged Rachel; adolescent twins Leah and Adah; and Ruth May, a prescient five-year-old. These sharply observant girls, who arrive in the Congo with racial preconceptions forged in 1950s Georgia, will be marked in surprisingly different ways by their father's intractable mission, and by Africa itself. Ultimately each must strike her own separate path to salvation. Their passionately intertwined stories become a compelling exploration of moral risk and personal responsibility.

Reviews

  • Rare and unforgettable

    5
    By CrazyWifeFarm
    A rich experience of Africa, the failure of American imperialism and the arrogance of white people, narrated by a mother and her four daughters. Brilliant and disturbing. Beautiful and heartbreaking.
  • Great review of history and story

    5
    By RunBikeWine
    Fictional book but based on true history and politics. A great read. Very long!
  • Poisonwood Bible

    5
    By SuzThomsen
    Riveting. Early portions of the book were amazing. Last couple sections moved a bit slower but overall quite amazing!
  • Poisonwood Bible

    5
    By srormy1
    Excellent, thought provoking book. Beautiful story about life, family, and compromise. Sad in may ways but the author has a comical way of presenting tragedy through the eyes of many different personalities one of the best books I have ever read!
  • The Poisonwood Bible

    5
    By srtco2
    By far one of the best books I’ve ever read. And one of the only books I again and again over the transom.
  • Reading Again, Reading Renewed

    5
    By Murpmarie
    In 1998 I read The Poisonwood Bible as a wife and mother of young children. I just finished an almost mystical re-read, possibly as a completely different person now: a grandmother and a divorced woman (who recognized, finally, what abuse really is). Rarely will I read a book again as there are too many great books, too little time. I’ve surprised myself with my resolve to reconnect with favorites by going back to Barbara Kingsolver’s books, this is the fourth one and I feel compelled to recommend it as something very special to experience. The emotional and intellectual depth of this beautiful yet terrifying book is astonishing... reading it again on my iPad with the ability to immediately reference the time and place and politics was certainly something that added depth to the experience. I can honestly say this is my favorite book of all I’ve read; please allow me to recommend it to read once again and experience with new eyes.
  • I love this book!

    5
    By ami_with_an_i
    A must read.
  • Love this book!!!

    5
    By Psychreb
    This is one of my all time favorite books! I have read it more than once and highlighted so many lines. Love the perspective of chapters being written by each daughter and the haunting early chapter from the mother.
  • Not so great.

    1
    By You don't need 2know my name
    It had potential to be a good book but I didn't find it interesting at all. It had a slow start and I thought it was going to get better but it never did. There is nothing that happens that grabs the readers attention. It is also very long for a book where nothing happens. I can't even reach the end. Love the author but not this book.
  • Five stars

    5
    By Ashtay15
    I may be young but I've read my fair share of books. This the first to make me cry. It's a thought provoking page turner that I would recommend to anyone

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