The Poisonwood Bible is a story 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. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one … epic of one family’s tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa.
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 self-centered, teenaged Rachel; shrewd 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.
Dancing between the dark comedy of human failings and the breathtaking possibilities of human hope, The Poisonwood Bible possesses all that has distinguished Barbara Kingsolver’s previous work, and extends this beloved writer’s vision to an entirely new level. Taking its place alongside the classic works of postcolonial literature, this ambitious novel establishes Kingsolver as one of the most thoughtful and daring of modern writers.
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This is powerful book. It is not an easy read, nor is it “enjoyable.” However, almost everyone I know who has read it has been happy that they have.
Interesting
Read when it first came out. Don’t remember details but made me know I’ll read anything by Kingsolver
Love this book without reason and laughed so much while reading it. The characters and their situations mirrored some in my experience. I have felt related to the author ever since reading it. My sisters and I all concur. This book is a hoot! It is also very real and very relevatory.
I read this book on the plane on my first trip to Kenya. It is moving and written poignant. Loved it from the very start.
Kingsolver is a force of nature. Her works capture its essence, and she seems to have become a part of that essence.
One of my all time favourites
Barbara Kingsolver is one of my favorite authors, and this is one of her best books. A very powerful book, richly evocative of Africa, that stays with you long after you finish the last page. I recommend it heartily!
A missionary on a plane to Africa commented he’d never read that Biblical version. . .
Although not exactly a page turner it was an intriguingly sad story about a man on a mission and the family he destroyed.
One of the best books I’ve ever read about neo-colonialism!
ONE OF MY FAVORITES
writing is mesmerizing
Buy this book. Give this book to everyone you know. We all need to know what the condescending colonialism has done to Africa. This book will let you know AND it will force you t o look in the mirror and question all of your assumptions.
Loved this book. Should be on lots of Book Club lists!
I am a fan of Barbara Kingsolver and have read many of her books. This one is a cautionary tale of a couple who decide to become missionaries in the Congo, are ill prepared for life in this society, and live through harrowing experiences.
I think it was like a true story so some of it was rough to take. There were all kinds of emotions throughout the book. I am glad I read it. There were a lot of things I did not know and could never have imagined either.
An all time favorite
Loved this book. Just bought the e-book to read again.
Loved this book!