One of Susan Fletcher's favourite books.
A fascinating story told from the perspective of a mother and her four daughters who have been taken to the Congo, by the father of the family, on a mission to bring God to the people there. Politics, religion, feminism….it’s all here as they cope with the extreme differences from Georgia, USA, in a country going through it’s own political and social upheavals. A thoroughly satisfying read.
March 2010 Guest Editor Susan Fletcher on The Poisonwood Bible...
Kingsolver's novel follows the fortunes of the Price family - a fanatical Baptist preacher from Georgia, his wife and their four daughters - as they go to the Belgian Congo in the late 1950s, as missionaries. It instantly ticks boxes for me, in its poetical language, and in how richly and convincingly Kingsolver portrays the Congo - its heat, noise, smell, discomforts and beauty pour off the pages. But what I was most taken with was how deftly Kingsolver writes as five different people. All four daughters and the mother tell their tales - and every voice is her own. Moreover, I loved the fact that the mother - speaking retrospectively - mentions early on that one of her daughters "remains in the dank red earth." I could not guess which daughter would die, or how. And for all the preparation, when the death came I was genuinely bereft - it's an extraordinarily quiet, painful scene. I see this book as a wonderful example of how to write in many voices.
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
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A moving story of one family’s life-changing mission to Africa
The Poisonwood Bible tells the story of the wife and four daughters of an evangelical preacher who, in 1959, travel on a mission to the Belgian Congo. Told through the alternating voices of these five women, the novel offers a rich, multifaceted view of their experiences as they navigate life in an unfamiliar land.
I love how Kingsolver makes you feel as though you’re living alongside the characters, sharing in their discoveries, challenges, and transformations. Each woman responds differently to the beauty and hardship of their new environment, revealing how perspective shapes understanding.
The novel delves deeply into themes of ignorance, cultural misunderstanding, and preconceived ideas.... Read Full Review
The Poisonwood Bible tells the story of an American family in the Congo during a time of tremendous political and social upheaval. 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 all 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. This tale of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction, over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa, is set against one of history's most dramatic political parables. The Poisonwood Bible dances between the darkly comic human failings and inspiring poetic justices of our times. In a compelling exploration of religion, conscience, imperialist arrogance, and the many paths to redemption, Barbara Kingsolver has written a novel of overwhelming power and passion.
The Poisonwood Bible features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Family Drama, eBooks of the Month, General Fiction, Fiction, Recommendations
The Poisonwood Bible is available in Hardback, Paperback
The Poisonwood Bible was written by Barbara Kingsolver and published by Faber and Faber
The Poisonwood Bible has 640 pages
£8.99
