BW14: April Author of the Month - Barbara Kingsolver

 

Happy Sunday! April is a fun month of the year since it is National Poetry month as well as National Humor month, National Frog month, and National Kite Month.  Today we celebrate Palm Sunday as well as Children's Book Day, the 3rd is Find a Rainbow Day, the 4th is School Librarian day, the 5th is National Walking Day, the 6th California Poppy Day, and the 7th is Good Friday as well as World Health day, and the 8th is All is Ours day.

Plus our Author of the Month is Barbara Kingsolver, best known for the Poisonwood Bible which I found to be an absolutely amazing story and stayed with me long after I finished it. Nathan Price knows nothing about the Congo or its people, but is determined to start a church and save all the natives.  The story is from the perspective of Orleana Price and her four daughters.  Rachel, a teenager who vain and self absorbed; twins Leah and Adah, both extremely intelligent, but physically different.  Adah disabled from birth and can't speak.  Leah adores her father whereas Adah views him and the world more realistically. And Ruth who sees the world through her five year old eyes.  While Nathan insists on the natives conforming to his view of the world, Orleana and her daughters do their best to survive, learning about the world they now are forced to reside it. 

The Poisonwood Bible is full of African history and culture. Because there are many different meanings to the same words, whether the emphasis is on one part or another, it leads to many miscommunication between the Prices and the villagers. Throughout, the villagers remain a constant.  They end up teaching the Prices about life, individuality, liberty, and death.  Africa changes the Price family, for better and for worse, forever.  I didn't expect to enjoy this story as much as I did but from Rachel's self absorbed rants to Adah's metamorphosis, the lives of the Prices and the story of Africa completely enfolds you.  If you haven't read The Poisonwood Bible yet, I recommend it. 

Kingsolver has written many books which I am looking forward to reading. She was an editor for Best American Short Stories in 2001. Plus her stories are part of the core literature curriculum in many high schools and colleges. 

Join me in reading Barbara Kingsolver's works this month. 

Our post is brought to us by the letter N which stands for narrator, night, national, and names. 

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