Barbara Kingsolver’s fifth novel is a hymn to wildness that celebrates the prodigal spirit of human nature, and of nature itself. It weaves together three stories of human love within a larger tapestry of lives amid the mountains and farms of southern Appalachia. Over the course of one humid summer, this novel’s intriguing protagonists face disparate predicaments but find connections to one … another and to the flora and fauna with which they necessarily share a place.
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I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Wonderful characters and it made me feel like I was right there. I cried, I laughed, I cheered them on. It’s one of my favorite books of all time.
Completely relatable.
I didn’t want to put this book down and I also didn’t want to finish it. Magnificent book. I wanted to be able to read it forever.
i liked it.
I’ve long been a fan of Barbara Kingsolver’s works, but this one somehow slipped past me until just recently. Like all her books, Prodigal Summer is filled with lyrical observations about nature, and our human connections to a wilder world. The ecological themes are interwoven with the lives of compelling characters—mainly two strongly independent …
I liked the book but the end got a little preachy
Review “Prodigal Summer” weaves together three seemingly separate storylines, the most prominent one focusing on details about participants in an Appalachian natural ecosystem and human ecosystem: in these chapters, Forest Ranger Deanna is dedicated to protecting coyotes and is attracted to a local farmer who hunts them. Another storyline is about …
I read this book long ago, but never forgot the feeling I got from reading it. It warms my heart thinking of it.
She is one of my all time favotire authors and one that I read almost everything she writes. It is hard to say anythng bad about her writing, though this is a later book and far different than the bean trees. Particularly love that it had a lot of nature facts, about the spread of coyote territories, things that grow in the south. It was really …
I LOVE BARBARA KINGSOLVER! This has to be one of my favorite of her books. It informs us of the plight of the species of trees that were wiped out by a blight. But the story line of the characters is compelling and solid! No easy happily ever after! But so satisfying. Loved this. Don’t miss it!
I love the images in nature that Barbara Kingsolver is able to conjure up. This one is steamy, but through it all, you learn so much about the natural world.
This is a wonderful book that brings in ecology and various viewpoints of the characters. I wish that everyone would read it.
One of the best books I’ve ever read.
One of my all-time favorites and one in which I imagine the author’s personality shines brightly.
Barbara Kingsolver is the author I would most like to have for a next-door-neighbor and best friend. I have read all of her novels and books of essays and used THE BEAN TREES, ANIMAL DREAMS and some of her essays in my high school English classes and tried to get the plant science department to use ANIMAL VEGETABLE MIRACLE in their curriculum. …
I love Kingsoolver’s books
Barbara Kingsolver is one of my favorite authors
The book I hope to write after the book I am writing now is tentatively titled Ribbon of Life, mostly about learning basic wildlife tracking skills and becoming more aware of the wildlife in our cities, suburbs, and countryside. So it was nice to have this novel start with a woman tracking a bobcat. The entire novel is satisfying—about the coyote …
Enjoyable. Leaves you thinking.
my favorite kingsolver.