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Unsheltered: A Novel Hardcover – Deckle Edge, October 16, 2018

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 15,171 ratings

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New York Times Bestseller Named one of the Best Books of the Year by NPR, O: The Oprah Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek

“Kingsolver brilliantly captures both the price of profound change and how it can pave the way not only for future generations, but also for a radiant, unexpected expansion of the heart.” — O: The Oprah Magazine

The acclaimedauthor of The Poisonwood Bible and The Bean Trees, and recipient of numerous literary awards—including the National Humanities Medal, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguish Contribution to American Letters—returns with a story about two families, in two centuries, navigating what seems to be the end of the world as they know it. With history as their tantalizing canvas, these characters paint a startlingly relevant portrait of life in precarious times when the foundations of the past have failed to prepare us for the future.

How could two hardworking people do everything right in life, a woman asks, and end up destitute? Willa Knox and her husband followed all the rules as responsible parents and professionals, and have nothing to show for it but debts and an inherited brick house that is falling apart. The magazine where Willa worked has folded; the college where her husband had tenure has closed. Their dubious shelter is also the only option for a disabled father-in-law and an exasperating, free-spirited daughter. When the family’s one success story, an Ivy-educated son, is uprooted by tragedy he seems likely to join them, with dark complications of his own.

In another time, a troubled husband and public servant asks, How can a man tell the truth, and be reviled for it? A science teacher with a passion for honest investigation, Thatcher Greenwood finds himself under siege: his employer forbids him to speak of the exciting work just published by Charles Darwin. His young bride and social-climbing mother-in-law bristle at the risk of scandal, and dismiss his worries that their elegant house is unsound. In a village ostensibly founded as a benevolent Utopia, Thatcher wants only to honor his duties, but his friendships with a woman scientist and a renegade newspaper editor threaten to draw him into a vendetta with the town’s powerful men.

A timely and "utterly captivating" novel (San Francisco Chronicle), Unsheltered interweaves past and present to explore the human capacity for resiliency and compassion in times of great upheaval.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

An Amazon Best Book of October 2018: In her insightful and politically charged new novel, Barbara Kingsolver finds deep resonances between the Victorian era’s attitudes towards science, and our own. Unsheltered begins on the eve of the 2016 presidential election, when Willa, a freelance journalist whose family has fallen on hard times, discovers that the house they’ve moved into has a “nonexistent foundation.” Hoping to enlist restoration help from a historical society, Willa traces the origins of the house to Thatcher Greenwood, a science teacher who lived there in the 1870s, and his neighbor, a real-life woman biologist named Mary Treat, whose research supported Charles Darwin’s theory of the origin of species. Just as Darwin’s theory challenged the Victorian belief in the Judeo-Christian creation myth, so too, in Willa’s era, does global warming challenge prevailing myths about the future of civilization. Kingsolver, whose 1998 novel The Poisonwood Bible was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, carries off this cleverly structured dual narrative with aplomb and with a certain degree of rage at charismatic politicians, both past and present, whose disregard for science puts humanity in peril. –Sarah Harrison Smith, Amazon Book Review

Review

“Kingsolver’s dual narrative works beautifully. By giving us a family and a world teetering on the brink in 2016, and conveying a different but connected type of 19th-century teetering, Kingsolver creates a sense…that as humans we’re inevitably connected through the possibility of collapse, whether it’s the collapse of our houses, our bodies, logic, the social order or earth itself…In this engaged and absorbing novel, the two narratives reflect each other, reminding us of the dependability and adaptiveness of our drive toward survival.” — Meg Wolitzer, New York Times Book Review

“Utterly captivating…Keenly observed and thought-provoking…Kingsolver’s much-demonstrated talent for developing truly believable characters is, once again, on full display…Perhaps, more importantly, it’s the characters’ hardscrabble circumstances—especially in the modern story—that resonate right down to the bone.” — San Francisco Chronicle

“Kingsolver brilliantly captures both the price of profound change and how it can pave the way not only for future generations, but also for a radiant, unexpected expansion of the heart.” — O: The Oprah Magazine, 15 Best Books of 2018

“I felt almost bereft closing the cover on this book… With a spellbinding narrative and its exquisitely accurate evocation of two eras, Barbara Kingsolver’s novel is itself a shelter of sorts. One doesn’t want to leave it.” — Helen Klein Ross, Wall Street Journal

“Barbara Kingsolver’s latest novel, Unsheltered, will make you weep…But Kingsolver is also downright hilarious…Unsheltered is also a sociopolitical novel tackling real-world issues, especially how we humans navigate profound changes that threaten to unmoor us.” — O, the Oprah Magazine

“Barbara Kingsolver does something amazing in her new novel…Uncovering and appreciating the connections between the two stories, historical and contemporary, is the best reason to read the book…Both stories are compelling as Thatcher and Willa lead their families during dangerously uncertain times.”                          — Associated Press

“UNSHELTERED’s title suggests a roof gone missing. But it’s also a resonant call to be more alert to our social predicaments, to ‘stand in the clear light of day.’” — USA Today

Unsheltered is a skillful blend of fact and fiction told in alternating chapters... It’s a winner all the way…an absolute giant of a book.”      — New York Journal of Books

“Nuanced and convincing…Engrossing.” — Jane Ciabattari, BBC News “Preview”

“Sophisticated storytelling, compelling characters and sharp humor…Kingsolver is a writer who can help us understand and navigate the chaos of these times.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Kingsolver’s meticulously observed, elegantly structured novel unites social commentary with gripping storytelling…Containing both a rich story and a provocative depiction of times that shake the shelter of familiar beliefs, this novel shows Kingsolver at the top of her game.” — Publishers Weekly (Boxed and Starred review)

“As always, Kingsolver gives readers plenty to think about. Her warm humanism coupled with an unabashed point of view make her a fine 21st-century exponent of the honorable tradition of politically engaged fiction.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Exceptionally involving and rewarding…There is much to delight in and think about while reveling in Kingsolver’s vital characters, quicksilver dialogue, intimate moments, dramatic showdowns, and lushly realized milieus…An enveloping, tender, witty, and awakening novel of love and trauma, family and survival, moral dilemmas and intellectual challenges…” — Booklist (starred review)

 “Riveting…A tour de force of fiction…about this dynamic conflict between individual expression and communal belonging...One of the most magical parts of UNSHELTERED is how Kingsolver skillfully blends her two narratives into one unified tale, with past and present repeatedly mirroring each other.”                    — BookPage

“Powerful.” — Book Riot

“A return to the more ambitious, grand scale of novels such as The Lacuna and The Poisonwood Bible…A lively and vividly peopled novel of ideas…Clear throughout the novel is a tension between self-reliance and interdependence.” — The Guardian (feature)

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper; First Edition (October 16, 2018)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 480 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0062684566
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0062684561
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.68 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.31 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 15,171 ratings

About the author

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Barbara Kingsolver
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Barbara Kingsolver was born in 1955 and grew up in rural Kentucky. She earned degrees in biology from DePauw University and the University of Arizona, and has worked as a freelance writer and author since 1985. At various times she has lived in England, France, and the Canary Islands, and has worked in Europe, Africa, Asia, Mexico, and South America. She spent two decades in Tucson, Arizona, before moving to southwestern Virginia where she currently resides.

Her books, in order of publication, are: The Bean Trees (1988), Homeland (1989), Holding the Line: Women in the Great Arizona Mine Strike (1989), Animal Dreams (1990), Another America (1992), Pigs in Heaven (1993), High Tide in Tucson (1995), The Poisonwood Bible (1998), Prodigal Summer (2000), Small Wonder (2002), Last Stand: America's Virgin Lands, with photographer Annie Griffiths (2002), Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (2007), The Lacuna (2009), Flight Behavior (2012), Unsheltered (2018), How To Fly (In 10,000 Easy Lessons) (2020), Demon Copperhead (2022), and coauthored with Lily Kingsolver, Coyote's Wild Home (2023). She served as editor for Best American Short Stories 2001.

Kingsolver was named one the most important writers of the 20th Century by Writers Digest, and in 2023 won a Pulitzer Prize for her novel Demon Copperhead. In 2000 she received the National Humanities Medal, our country's highest honor for service through the arts. Her books have been translated into more than thirty languages and have been adopted into the core curriculum in high schools and colleges throughout the nation. Critical acclaim for her work includes multiple awards from the American Booksellers Association and the American Library Association, a James Beard award, two-time Oprah Book Club selection, and the national book award of South Africa, among others. She was awarded Britain's prestigious Women's Prize for Fiction (formerly the Orange Prize) for both Demon Copperhead and The Lacuna, making Kingsolver the first author in the history of the prize to win it twice. In 2011, Kingsolver was awarded the Dayton Literary Peace Prize for the body of her work. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

She has two daughters, Camille (born in 1987) and Lily (1996). She and her husband, Steven Hopp, live on a farm in southern Appalachia where they raise an extensive vegetable garden and Icelandic sheep.

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4.2 out of 5 stars
15,171 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book engaging and well-organized. They praise the writing quality as great and compelling. Readers appreciate the profound insights and interesting topics. The characters are described as wonderful, strong, and relatable. However, some customers felt the book was boring and depressing, with an overplayed message.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

298 customers mention "Readability"243 positive55 negative

Customers enjoy the book's readability. They find the characters delightful and the story engaging. The book is described as fun and challenging, making it a good choice for book clubs. Readers mention it captures the angst of change well.

"...characters, magical realism very well done revcommended highly, fun to read, but a bit challenging read it soon" Read more

"...We get the picture already! Willa, Thomas and Mary were delightful, with the surrounding characters being well developed...." Read more

"Unsheltered, a captivating novel by Barbara Kingsolver, captures the angst of change as it affects families in two different eras...." Read more

"...Far and away, her best book was The Poisonwood Bible...." Read more

250 customers mention "Story quality"186 positive64 negative

Customers find the story engaging and well-written. They appreciate the masterful storytelling, blending present and past stories, and the clever use of the last word of the previous chapter. The story is timely, interesting, and provocative, with thoughtful, intelligent, and believable characters. Readers mention that the natural world is explored in small gems throughout the story. Overall, they describe the book as a very different concept for a novel.

"Well written, engaging, great characters, magical realism very well done revcommended highly, fun to read, but a bit challenging read it soon" Read more

"...The story was well organized, clever to use the last word of the previous chapter to lead to the first word in the subsequent chapter in another..." Read more

"...I loved this provocative novel and highly recommend it." Read more

"...I gave this 3 stars because the end got a little convoluted and slowly unraveled...." Read more

175 customers mention "Writing quality"160 positive15 negative

Customers enjoy the book's writing. They praise the author's engaging prose and vocabulary, describing the book as a meaty read with good sentence structure and easy to understand vocabulary. The story is relatable and well-written, with real heart and passion.

"Well written, engaging, great characters, magical realism very well done revcommended highly, fun to read, but a bit challenging read it soon" Read more

"...The story was well organized, clever to use the last word of the previous chapter to lead to the first word in the subsequent chapter in another..." Read more

"...Intelligent, clever, compelling prose linking life through time. This books is a must read, you won’t be disappointed...." Read more

"...Pub. Date: October 16, 2018 Barbara Kingsolver is a powerhouse of a writer and one of my preferred authors...." Read more

163 customers mention "Insight"153 positive10 negative

Customers find the book insightful and thought-provoking. They describe it as an engaging read with a worthwhile topic. The story offers lessons and insights with a light touch and an open mind.

"Well written, engaging, great characters, magical realism very well done revcommended highly, fun to read, but a bit challenging read it soon" Read more

"Unsheltered, a captivating novel by Barbara Kingsolver, captures the angst of change as it affects families in two different eras...." Read more

"...Treat had lived in their house, which would have made it valuable as an historic landmark...." Read more

"This book immediately goes to the top of my all time books. Intelligent, clever, compelling prose linking life through time...." Read more

137 customers mention "Character development"100 positive37 negative

Customers enjoy the well-developed characters. They appreciate the strong female characters and men depicted in the story. The book also features some real people from the 1870s period.

"Well written, engaging, great characters, magical realism very well done revcommended highly, fun to read, but a bit challenging read it soon" Read more

"...Willa, Thomas and Mary were delightful, with the surrounding characters being well developed...." Read more

"...The other criticism of the book is that the characters are not evenly drawn. Some are vibrant and jump off the page...." Read more

"...It tells about Thatcher Greenwood and the real life character, Mary Treat, a 19th century biologist...." Read more

87 customers mention "Historical accuracy"77 positive10 negative

Customers appreciate the historical accuracy of the book. They find the topics relatable and credible, with current and historical timelines alternating throughout. The author's research in historical events and Greek language is outstanding. Readers can see their generation's perspective as well as the next generation's, and learn about little-known people in history.

"...The historical story was richer and more compelling. It tells about Thatcher Greenwood and the real life character, Mary Treat, a 19th century..." Read more

"...Oddly, the past felt fresh. I enjoyed reading about young America’s growing pains. How hard the scientific minds had to fight to be heard...." Read more

"...So many insights. There is so much in this book, family relationships, financial struggles, the unpredictability of events, history, and..." Read more

"...Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver uses sharp characterization, family relationships, friendship and fighting for the truth...." Read more

78 customers mention "Boredom"0 positive78 negative

Customers find the book boring and depressing. They say it's a waste of time, with unnecessary words and no movement. The story is less fascinating than other favorites.

"...I guess this one was just not the book for me...." Read more

"I did not finish reading this book because I was too bored. The story line was OK but I did not like the author's style of writing...." Read more

"...I decided to take a chance on this book, wish I could return it. Very disappointing. The story line (yawn) …..So boring, I could not finish the book...." Read more

"...And the story keeps moving, so the pages keep turning. But it not a great book. For one thing, Kingsolver overplays her hand...." Read more

71 customers mention "Political content"20 positive51 negative

Customers find the book preachy and heavy-handed with political ideas. They say it's preachy, preachy about social justice, and predictable. The politics portrayed are stereotypical and tired.

"...The only minor flaw is a tendency to preachiness which is really her heartfelt cry to take good care of what is here now in order to save some for..." Read more

"...It is also somewhat political, and it is clear the author has far left collectivist philosophical views, which for me makes for an unenjoyable anti-..." Read more

"...she sticks with her familiar themes—environment, religion, and social issues...." Read more

"...In fact, it seemed that there were too many heavy-handed political and social ideas in the novel, and that she was "preaching to the choir."..." Read more

Ordered New, Received Used
3 out of 5 stars
Ordered New, Received Used
Just a heads up before buying. I ordered this book after reading The Beans Trees by Barbara Kingsolver. I also ordered 2 other books by her that came in good condition, but this book arrived in not the best condition. Pages are uneven and seem to have gotten wet at some point, as well as pages folded. Overall, appears used. It wouldn't be as much of an issue if I didn't pay extra couple of dollars to order a new copy. I wasn't thrilled upon delivery, but am still going to give it a chance to read. Just be fair warned if you order, you may get a used copy as well.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2025
    Unsheltered, a captivating novel by Barbara Kingsolver, captures the angst of change as it affects families in two different eras. The story takes place in Vineland, New Jersey.

    Willa and Iano Knox are facing hard times. The magazine she wrote for has folded, and the college in which her husband Iano had tenure has closed. Their two adult children have lives of their own though their daughter, Tig, lives with them. Her mother fears Tig will carry the terrible-twos into old age. Their son, who lives in Boston, is agonizing over his partner’s death, leaving their new-born son, who is now living with Willa and Iano. Iano’s cranky father, critically ill with advanced diabetes, also lives with them and needs constant medical attention. In the meantime, their home, a brick house that Willa inherited, is collapsing around them with crumbling ceilings, moldy walls, a sagging roof, and ruptured ductwork. Because of a gas leak, they cook on a campstove. The house is obviously damaged beyond repair.

    One hundred fifty years earlier, in the 1870s, Thatcher Greenwood, his new bride and her social-climbing mother live in the same house as the Knox’s, but they have just had it built. Thatcher can see that the house is unsound, but the women in his life refuse to acknowledge it. Their main concern is social status. Thatcher is a science teacher and has a passion for seeking the truth. He is fascinated by the exciting just-published work of Charles Darwin, but his employer forbids him to speak of it to his students, believing that Darwin’s theories are anti-Christian. Thatcher makes friends with a neighbor, Mary Treat, a naturalist who regularly corresponds with Darwin on her findings with plants and insects.

    Unsheltered weaves the present and past, allowing us to examine life as it is now and how it was in bygone days, and the human capacity for resiliency and compassion. Upheaval in some form is always present. How we deal with it dictates our future.

    Barbara Kingsolver has managed to write another equally exceptional novel as The Poisonwood Bible, a novel I read and reviewed ten years ago. Unsheltered has a similar message as it deals with ordinary characters under extraordinary circumstances. I loved this provocative novel and highly recommend it.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2025
    I haven’t read enough of Barbara K’s books to know if she is editorializing through her characters- specifically -Tig. Her lengthy and many preachy and exhausting lectures -
    I could have done without. We get the picture already! Willa, Thomas and Mary were delightful, with the surrounding characters being well developed. The story was well organized, clever to use the last word of the previous chapter to lead to the first word in the subsequent chapter in another time. Interesting twists and turns, truly inventive and complex unfolding of events. It didn’t feel like time to finish- I wanted to know more about some of the less savory characters, but at least the likable characters lives were sufficiently resolved. I’ll try another BK book.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2025
    It took me a while to realize that both stories were connected.

    Willa, her husband and his ailing father move to a house she inherited in New Jersey. Her 28- year old estranged daughter suddenly joins them. Shortly after, her son's wife commits suicide leaving him and infant to join the parents in a house that is structurally unsound and falling apart at the seams.

    Around the 1800s, in the same town, Vineland, founded by a man called Landisman, Thatcher moves into said house with his new bride Rose, his mother-in-law, and Polly, the younger sister. Across from the house lives Mary, a divorcee and pursuer of the study of plants, birds, and ants, in communication with Charles Darwin. This part of the story reveals Thatcher's battle in bringing the study of Darwin into the school against the narrow minded school master, Cutler, and the town founder, a Mr. Landisman.

    Both stories connect as Willa seeks to get her falling apart house listed as an historical site, thereby receiving funds to repair the home.

    The connection is further reinforced by the attitudes of the sheepish townspeople in the past and those in the present supporting a presidential candidate, who "could shoot someone in Manhatten in broad daylight and still get elected".

    This is not a black and white tale but an examination of why people believe or choose to believe the way they do. Tig, Willa's headstrong and very much activist daughter is really the most sympathetic character. So many insights.

    There is so much in this book, family relationships, financial struggles, the unpredictability of events, history, and joy.

    I highly recommend reading this.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2025
    I am familiar enough with the author that I know this book would be more about the details and world building than the overall storyline. I like the premise and enjoyed the rich history through the book.

    I gave this 3 stars because the end got a little convoluted and slowly unraveled. I never felt a sense of connection to any of the characters and didn’t have an opinion one way or another what the fate of each of them was.

    As a lover of history I appreciate the descriptions and accurate accounts of situations.

    I don’t have many people I feel like I could recommend this book too, but I am really glad I read it for the imagery and poetry alone.
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2025
    This Author never fails to amaze me and pull me into places and the character’s that she writes about. Most definitely one of my all time favorites writers!! If you are a fan of Kingsolver, this Novel will not disappoint! If it’s your first time reading one of her books, then you are in for a treat! If it doesn’t grab you immediately, don’t worry, just keep reading and then you will suddenly realize that you are hooked and can hardly put it down. I am an avid reader, I feel naked without a book in hand . But when I finish a book like this, I have to sit with my thoughts about it for at least a day. It’s hard to start another book, because not many Authors can compare to her!!
    3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • NerdyGal73
    5.0 out of 5 stars Contemplative
    Reviewed in Canada on September 29, 2024
    A book about families (and generations) living through societal change. Very interesting. It gives me lots to think about. A must read.
  • Elyseo da Silva
    5.0 out of 5 stars Klarsichtige Gesellschaftsanalyse
    Reviewed in Germany on February 4, 2025
    Barbara Kingsolver versteht es in ihren Romanen, eine ganz eigene Stimmung zu schaffen, die den Leser in ihren Bann zieht.
    In Unsheltered erzählt sie zwei Geschichten über Amerika in Zeiten gesellschaftlicher Umwälzung - einmal in der Jetzt-Zeit, einmal im 19. Jahrhundert, nachdem Darwin seine Evolutionstheorie veröffentlicht hat.
    Mit der ihr eigenen Klarheit beleuchtet Kingsolver unterschiedliche Figuren im familiären Kontext innerhalb derselben Situation - und verschafft dem Leser auf diese Weise einen Einblick in verschiedene Weltsichten. Die Geschichte im 19. Jahrhundert rekonstruiert darüber hinaus das Leben historischer Figuren - gruppiert um die Wissenschaftlerin Mary Treat.
    Dennoch ist Unsheltered aufgrund der Unverbundenheit der beiden Erzählstränge stellenweise etwas zäh zu lesen.
    Alles in allem ein lesenswerter Roman voller tiefer Einsichten im Kingsolver-Stil, bei dem ich zwischen vier und fünf Sternen schwanke, letztlich allerdings im Vergleich zu vielerlei sonstigen Büchern fünf gebe.
  • Keckeis Gisela
    5.0 out of 5 stars Je suis une inconditionnelle de Barbara Kingsolver...
    Reviewed in France on January 28, 2020
    et son livre m’a enchanté ‼️
  • bookyfemale
    5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, again.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 20, 2019
    I pay attention to reviews, I really do, and early reviews of this novel suggested that Kingsolver had not exactly hit this one out of the park, so I was apprehensive when I finally picked it up. I am happy to say I loved it.

    There are two narratives in this novel: two families face their own disintegration in a crumbling New Jersey house more than 150 years apart. The ever-present danger of collapsing roof and walls gives the book its theme as well as its title - the lady scientist in the 1870’s narrative says to her teacher friend: “Teach them to see evidence and not to fear it, to stand in the clear light of day...Unsheltered.

    The 1870’s narrative is Kingsolver’s reminder to us that, however chaotic and violent our world is today, social and political upheaval is nothing new: the collision of Darwin’s theory of evolution and Bible-based creationism was equally catastrophic in the late 19th century.

    The social issue for the modern-day family is the danger of failing to use the earth’s resources responsibly, given the stark evidence of climate change - not the first time Kingsolver delivers that message.

    Two elements in particular secured my fondness for this book. First, as always with Kingsolver, there is the piercing truth and humour of the language, always a thrill to read. And second is the beautifully developed mother-daughter portrait of Willa and Tig. Raised by close and attentive parents, Tig goes her own inexplicable way but the anchoring love between her and her baffled mother remains intact.

    As I neared the end of the book, I really regretted having to say goodbye to these characters and this fine, perceptive writing. So please let me never again think that Kingsolver hasn’t hit one out of the park.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Fortunata
    5.0 out of 5 stars Dos historias muy buenas.
    Reviewed in Spain on July 20, 2019
    Dos libros por el precio de uno, ya que se trata de dos hostorias igualmente fascinantes. Soy una gran fan de B Kingsolver y no me ha defraudado