by Barbara Kingsolver
(bio and other books)
Barbara Kingsolver's
fifth novel honors mother nature as well as the
prodigal spirit of human nature. By entwining three
stories of evolving relationships within a larger
tapestry of life in the Appalachian
mountains of Kentucky, Kingsolver reminds
us that people, their decisions, and their
actions, are simultaneously significant and
inconsequential when up against the wilderness.
Over
the course of a summer, Deanna Wolfe, a wildlife biologist, divorced
and determined to be alone, lives deep in the Appalachain mountains
observing and protecting the wildlife. Things are going according
to her plan until she meets Eddie Bondo, a hunter from
Wyoming
to whom she is undeniably attracted. Eddie, however, has come to
the mountains in order to destroy what she protects--the coyote.
In
the valley below Deanna's hightop mountain cabin is a newly wedded
woman named Lusa who married Cole Widener and moved to the Widener
farm. Adjusting to country life in a big, farm family seemed hard
until Cole dies one morning in a tractor accident. Lusa is unaware
of the rippling effects of each decision she makes from that point
forward.
The
third story is the most entertaining and lively of the three
segments in this novel. Two aging neighbors are too old to
know how people their age are supposed to behave. Garnett Walker and
Nannie Rawley go round and round disputing and defending their
knowledge on biology, farming, wildlife and whatever else they can
think of. But from the very beginning, we feel the friction and
sense a slight attraction, although it sometimes is hard to tell for
sure. Nannie is wildly entertaining and Mr. Walker is sure to
remind you of an old man you know. Their arguments are informative,
insightful and at times, in their back and forth, they seem to say
more in one sentence than some people manage to ponder their whole
life through.
Eventually, in perfect pace, Kingsolver reveals the connections
between these people and the soft words surprise us with a
mysterious after-weight.
Quote from
Prodigal Summer
“Every
quiet step is thunder to beetle life underfoot, a
tug of impalpable thread on the web pulling mate to
mate and predator to prey, a beginning or an end.
Every choice is a world made new for the chosen.”
buy
Prodigal Summer
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Read our
bio of Barbara Kingsolver. |
