The Poisonwood Bible
Barbara Kingsolver (Adult Fiction)
This is the story of a Baptist missionary family who travel to the Belgian Congo in 1959. Having the mother and four daughters each narrate this story gives the reader five thoughtful and unique viewpoints of the same events. At 543 pages, the novel spans three decades, but seems to go well beyond its natural endpoint and unnecessarily drags out to the point of reader fatigue. The author could have easily skimmed 150 pages and still had a poignant and interesting story. I gave it 4 stars rather than 3 because the writing is superb; however, the author does get very political and uncomfortably preachy at times.
Rating: 4/5
The Dusty Jacket 