This is part of an ongoing series where I write about a different author for each letter of the alphabet. You can see them all here.
I don’t have a lot of candidates for ‘K’ in the alphabet, though perhaps more than I would have expected at first: I own and have read books by Emily Kimbrough, Jessie Kesson, Molly Keane, Margaret Kennedy, Sheila Kaye-Smith off the top of my head, and maybe even some books by men beginning with K too. But Barbara Kingsolver is my choice – partly because she wrote one of my favourite reads of recent years, and also because I know she is well-loved across the blogosphere.
How many books do I have by Barbara Kingsolver?
I’ve got five books by Kingsolver, which is quite low for an author in this series – perhaps you remember the dizzying piles of Crompton and Delafield books. But there are probably more pages in these five than five books by any other author I have in the house.
How many of these have I read?
From this pile, I’ve only read three (including one I finished yesterday). Confusingly, I’ve read another two that aren’t here – and one of the pile I have read was actually another edition. The Lacuna has had a journey of getting, giving away unread, re-buying, and still not having read.
How did I start reading Barbara Kingsolver?
My first Kingsolver was The Bean Trees, borrowed from a friend and finally bought earlier this year. It was part of a postal book group I was in, where we chose a book and posted it around a dozen people before it came back with a notebook of comments and thoughts. I loved it, but then I read The Poisonwood Bible for a book group. I can’t remember if it was borrowed from the library or a friend, or if I decided not to keep it – but it made me lukewarm on Kingsolver (for reasons I’ll go into below). It was only when doing A Century of Books that I turned to Pigs in Heaven because I needed something to read to fill the 1993 slot. It was so brilliant that I got back on the Kingsolver train. (The only I’ve read that isn’t pictured is Prodigal Summer, which I listened to as an audiobook.)
General impressions…
As you may have gathered from the above – mixed! Pigs in Heaven is one of the best modern novels I’ve read (I can count 1990s as modern, right?) and I loved The Bean Trees. I did like Prodigal Summer a lot, though perhaps could have done with a little less description of the environment and more about the fascinating characters she had created. As for The Poisonwood Bible – some brilliant writing, the final quarter should have been lopped off, and the preacher was a rare misstep in Kingsolver’s aptitude for subtlety. And I’ve just finished Small Wonder, a collection of her essays, which I’ll write about soon and which were great – if rather locked in one particular moment of time.
Overall – I think she is a great prose writer, able to be just poetic enough without losing the storytelling momentum. I’m not sure the things I find interesting totally overlap with what she finds interesting, and I think she’s at her best when she doesn’t let the message overpower the story. But I will certainly keep reading her (and her ENORMOUS books) and am glad that such a thoughtful writer is finding a wide audience.
Great choice. I discovered her with The Poisonwood Bible which I found very impressive. So I have read many after that, a total of 12. I enjoyed them all, except major disappointment with Unsheltered!
I also like her essays, for instance High Tide in Tucson. I haven’t yet read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, which is odd because this is an important theme in my life.
She’s definitely one of my favorite contemporary female writers
I didn’t even know she had written that many! Lovely that you’re such a big fan.
What a fantastic idea. I might copy it one day, if I may.
Anyway, I am a huge fan of Barbara Kingsolver and the only boos I haven’t read from your list is “Small Wonders” (on my wishlist) and “Pigs in Heaven” (on my TBR pile). I have, however, read “The Poisonwood Bible”, “Prodigal Summer” and “Unsheltered” in addition to your books. And I loved them all.
Thanks for this.
Yes, please do copy! And I’ve read 2 of those 3, with mixed results :D
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is fabulous! You must read it, Simon. I kept it for years as reference and reread it many times. I so wanted to do the same !!
I also love Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I have a minor obsession with local food/homesteader memoirs, though, so I’m definitely the target audience there.
Oo thanks – I do love that title!
I know you’re not big on historical fiction, but The Lacuna is one of Kingsolver’s best books. You really should read it.
Thanks Kay! It is definitely one that seems to divide people, so I should see.
Hi Simon,
I, too, had first come across BK as a result of the postal group — it makes me rather sad as according to my notes, The Bean Trees was one of Sarah’s choices.
I started listening to Flight Behavior later but did not finish it as I have quite enough climate anxiety as it is — but maybe I’m doing the book an injustice there.
I have a note somewhere to reread The Bean Trees before reading Pigs in Heaven as the latter is a sequel. Would you agree with that approach or does Pigs in Heaven work on its own?
Oh, was it Sarah’s choice? I’d forgotten that. Yet another of her wonderful reading legacies.
I read Pigs a long time after Beans and didn’t really remember anything about it, and I still loved Pigs – maybe I’d have loved even more if I’d remembered it! But I think you can treat it as a standalone.
I’ve never read Kingsolver, , and she’s one of those authors that does seem like a massive gap in my reading. Your post has certainly encouraged me to pick her up, despite your mixed experiences with her writing.
Excellent! I think she is one of those writers whose legacy will last a long time.
I own a copy of Pigs in Heaven but haven’t read it yet, so I’m glad to see that you rate it so highly. I’ve read almost all of her books, nonfiction as well as fiction. Her messages have been getting less subtle rather than more, so I imagine you’ll want to steer clear of Unsheltered!
I wonder if it’s so much that her messages are becoming more clear or that readers are receiving so much news about various issues (climate, justice, etc.) via social media and feel better equipped to spot matters of importance in fiction than readers in the ’90s were? For me, Unsheltered was a little less obvious (than, say, Prodigal Summer, although I do love that one) but I’ve yet to read Flight Behaviour…maybe because I like to have “one in reserve” or maybe because I’m so fond of birds.
Really interesting point!
I am getting mixed messages on that one, but I might at least wait a while :D
Thanks for your thoughts about Kingsolver, Simon. I have read only The Poisonwood Bible, which I remember liking quite a lot. I had decided not to register for a Zoom conversation between Kingsolver and Ann Patchett at the Providence (Rhode Island) Athenaeum, but now that I have read your responses to BK’s novels, I think I will register after all!
Oh enjoy Susan, that sounds really interesting!
I’ve read quite a bit of Kingsolver over the years. I loved “The Bean Trees”, “Pigs in Heaven” and “Animal dreams”. “poisonwood Bible” not so much though the dad reminded me of a family member in his total cluelessness. My favorite had to be “the Lacuna”- fascinating. but “unsheltered” was just a severe lecture- couldn’t even finish it. no relatable plot= just lectures from a stern teacher. I do always love to read your blogs on writers.
Thanks Linda! Yes, it’s when her fiction gets a bit too lecturey that I go lukewarm.
I’m also a big Kingsolver fan, so I was happy to see you rated The Bean Trees and Pigs in Heaven highly. I’m sorry you weren’t a fan of The Poisonwood Bible, but to each his/her own. I’ve enjoyed all her fiction. Some of the non-fiction I have found a bit heavy-handed, but I haven’t yet read High Tide in Tucson, so I’m keeping an open mind.
Poisonwood really divided me – I loved a lot, and disliked elements. But yes, every Kingsolver fan seems to rank them differently!
I really like her too.
I’ve read The Bean Tree and Pigs in Heaven and loved them. Prodigal Summer was brilliant and I enjoyed Homeland and Other Stories. I thought that The Poisonwood Bible was difficult to bear and it’s not my favorite but I’m not fond of books with religion as a theme. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is excellent too, and I recommend it too.
I couldn’t finish The Lacuna and I’d be curious to hear your thoughts about it.
Thanks Emma! Interesting about Lacuna – what made you give up?
See, now… everyone was kvelling over her Poisonwood Bible when it came out, and I guess I rebelled against the hyper-hype, so I never read it or anything by her. Maybe I should… Thanks.
I definitely think worth giving her a go – essays could be a good way in
Barbara Kingsolver is my go-to writer for almost every need…. engaging writing, likable characters, intriguing opponents (including well-meaning people with opposing views) and a goodly dose of optimism. My reading in the past 20 months has included every one of her books (some for the 3rd or 4th time), all of which are on my shelves.
Oh that’s lovely! Yes, I see what you mean about the optimism – it is a key note, however much despair is there.
You’ve encouraged me to reinstate Kingsolver on my TBR list. I’ve only read Poisonwood Bible, which I much enjoyed (though yes,the last part could have been heavily edited), and when I finished it, I vowed to read more. But that was quite a long while ago …
The classic story for all of us!
The Lacuna is just brilliant, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did (but then I loved The Poisonwood Bible, oh dear!)
I loved and disliked it at the same time – a very confusing reading experience!
Lovely to see her featured here! Poisonwood Bible is my least favourite of hers and I haven’t read The Lacuna as I dislike novels featuring real people (however I just read and loved a novel made up of real people, so …). I don’t mind the didactic bits and love all the nature, and we named one of our cats after a character in Unsheltered!
Poisonwood definitely seems to be people favourites or least favourites! Having said that, Unsheltered and The Lacuna are also getting mixed responses.
I do so agree with you about the the final chapters of The Poisonwood Bible. What was the author thinking? It is like she let someone else to finish those final one hundred or so pages of the book. I was in disbelief. Before I got to those pages I really believed I was reading one of the best books ever. Such a pity. The Bean Trees is something new to me, I am adding it to my TBR, thanks!
thank you Diana! It was such a weird authorial and editorial decision.