The Poisonwood Bible By Barbara Kingsolver

'The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it-from garden seeds to Scripture-is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa.'

Lee said.......

This is one of my favourite books. It is not only beautifully written, but the author takes the reader to Africa in the fifties, and gives us five different versions of the experience. A must for people who like to come away from a book with a greater knowledge of the time and place they have been reading about. I loved it!

Linda said...

I thoroughly enjoyed this book: to journey with the five female 'Price' lives in the African continent was an emotional ride. From the initial misunderstanding, hate and fear of the Congo way of life to the final acceptance, understanding and love of a country and it's abused people was enlightening.Beautiful and tenderly written, I think it reflects the continuum of human existance and need for survival that we all at some point experience, particularly as women.Passing between Orleanna, Rachael, Adah, Leah and Ruth was like being part of their family, standing beside each one as they faced each new life experience, challenge and death. (Yep, I bubbled away as Orleanna shrouded her daughter)Barbara Kingsolver is a brillant writer and I'm hooked.

P.S I am still stewing over that fanatical, self centered, self proclaimed saviour of all, Nathan Price!Linda

Judith said....

A wonderful gripping story. Added intrigue is given by the story being told from the different viewpoints of the mother and her daughters.Full of passion, action and insight. Nathan is well-drawn as his religious zealotry controls all around him.The perspective of the people of the Congo gave extra pathos and depth to the story.Well written and gripping, I'm glad I read it! I'd rate it 5/5

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Kate says

The Poisonwood Bible is the story of an evangelical crackpot minister form America's deep south who moves his family to the Belgian Congo in the late 1950s.

This is an unassuming epic spanning 40 years and it just creeps up on you and sucks you in.
It is told by multiple narrators (four naive daughters and their mother) and how they learn,cope and grow in an unknown world that is essentially forced upon them. Ironically, I felt the father, who rules with an iron fist to be the devil possessed for bestowing the many tragedies upon his family in order to acheive salvation and redemption for mistakes he made at youth.
I really loved the heartache in this book and although it was a little slow in places I found the prose to be witty and endearing (why I just about wet myself laffin in places). The imagery of the land and its people haunting and the emotion intense, thick and complex.
It is an interesting take on human adversary and what we go through if we have to, no matter where you are from.

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