I didn’t love Demon Copperhead, but I loved Kingsolver’s writing enough to seek out more from her. I’ve since read a few more of her books and loved every one.

This one jumped off a shelf at my favourite used bookstore and I bought it without hesitation.

I didn’t even realize there was a sequel to The Bean Trees until I was into this book. What a nice surprise. The Bean Trees was one of my favourites of last year. This book spoils a lot about its prequel, so if you haven’t read that one, start there. This picks up about 3 years after that one, and they are tied closely together.

Character and dialogue is what sets Kingsolver apart, and here she reminds me of Elmore Leonard and Louise Erdrich. You can hear the voices and pretty much smell the shampoo of her characters. She’s as good as they come.

The story itself falters a bit compared to its predecessor. There are a few sections that feel a little preachy, and a storyline that’s a little too tidy. A couple times I wondered whether Kingsolver was trying to atone for a little of the white-saviour theme of The Bean Trees (it didn’t strike me when I read it but I could see people being put off by a few things in that novel). She alludes to it in her acknowledgement — and if it’s indeed the case that she wrote this as a bit of a mea culpa, good for her.

I still was in tears at the end. A lesser Kingsolver is still better than most others. Fully recommend.