Book Review: The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Type:
Fiction, family, coming of age,  Africa, Oprah’s Book Club

About:
A missionary from Georgia takes his family to the African Congo in 1959. With a shifting narration from all of the women (mother and four sisters) in the story, we learn that life in the Congo will change their lives forever. The novel reveals what daily life was like for them – searching for food, staving off wild animals, learning about the community and more hardships than I could have imagined.  It provides personal accounts of a family who comes together and grows apart.

Why did I read it:
I have four sisters and love to read books about a family of girls. Kingsolver has long been one of my favorite authors – great at capturing slice of life, quirky personalities. I also love Oprah Book Club books.

Read it if:
- You want to be shocked, touched and immersed in a life so rough that it makes our daily comforts seem ridiculous
- You want to experience a first-hand account of someone experience life-changing events and recounting them in quirky, smart, witty, and extremely “honest” voices. Amazing characters in this book that are hard to forget.

Don’t read it if:
- You don’t like Oprah’s Book Club books – usually meaning that it will bring up a lot of emotions, is female-centered and generally powerfully and beautifully written/modern literary classic (not being snarky. For some folks, that’s just not their thing).
- You get TOO engrossed in your characters and have trouble accepting changes within books.

Cool:  
I only knew the basics about the turmoil in the Congo from the 1960s to present, so I learned a lot from this book. Plus, the characters were so real I had to remind myself it was fiction.

Number of busy bees:  
4
Better Reviews (or, as suggested, Alternate Reviews)
New York Times
Caribous Mom
Copperfield Review