Saturday, June 26, 2010

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Nathan Price, a Baptist minister, takes his wife and 4 daughters to the Belgian Congo in 1959.  They carry with them everything they believe they will need on their 12-month mission.  Once there, they find that they are terribly unprepared.  Nathan is obsessed with baptizing all of the children in the river, and doesn't learn until late in his stay that the villagers won't go in the river because of crocodiles.  But he hasn't bothered to learn their language or customs.

The story is told through Nathan's wife and daughters in alternating chapters; each chapter is a first person narrative.  It is a very effective way of getting to know the characters and of seeing the story from different perspectives.  I rate this book 5 out of 5.

4 comments:

Kathy A. Johnson said...

I loved this book, Cheryl, and it's also one of my husband's favorites. I love most of Barbara Kingsolver's work, and my favorite is Prodigal Summer. Have you read it? She is such a poetic writer. I just realized I haven't read her last two books--better get down to the library!

gma said...

I loved this book too!

Anonymous said...

This is one of my all-time favorite books. I'm glad to see you really liked it, too.

biobec said...

I also read and enjoyed this book. My favorite B.K. book is a book of essays, High Tide in Tucson. She does have a way with the words.