The Poisonwood Bible: Summary and book reviews of The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, plus links to an excerpt from The Poisonwood Bible and a biography of 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. The novel is set against one of the most dramatic political chronicles of the twentieth century: the Congo's fight for independence from Belgium, the murder of its first elected prime minister, the CIA coup to install his replacement, and the insidious progress of a world economic order that robs the fledgling African nation of its autonomy. Against this backdrop, Orleanna Price reconstructs the story of her evangelist husband's part in the Western assault on Africa, a tale indelibly darkened by her own losses and unanswerable questions about her own culpability. Also narrating the story, by turns, are her four daughters--the self-centered, teenaged Rachel; shrewd adolescent twins Leah and Adah; and Ruth May, a prescient five-year-old. These sharply observant girls, who arrive in the Congo with racial preconceptions forged in 1950s Georgia, will be marked in surprisingly different ways by their father's intractable mission, and by Africa itself. Ultimately each must strike her own separate path to salvation. Their passionately intertwined stories become a compelling exploration of moral risk and personal responsibility. Dancing between the dark comedy of human failings and the breathtaking possibilities of human hope, The Poisonwood Bible possesses all that has distinguished Barbara Kingsolver's previous work, and extends this beloved writer's vision to an entirely new level. Taking its place alongside the classic works of post colonial literature, this ambitious novel establishes Kingsolver as one of the most thoughtful and daring of modern writers.

Media Reviews

The New York Times - Michiko Kakutani Kingsolver's powerful new book is actually an old-fashioned 19th-century novel, a Hawthornian tale of sin and redemption and the 'dark necessity' of history.   People Beautifully written . . . Kingsolver's tale of domestic tragedy is more than just a well-told yarn . . . Played out against the bloody backdrop of political struggles in Congo that continue to this day, it is also particularly timely.   Newsday A bravura performance . . . A subtle and complex creation, dealing with epic subjects with invention and courage and a great deal of heart.   Washington Post Book World - Jane Smiley There are few ambitious, successful and beautiful novels. Lucky for us, we have one now, in Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible . . . his awed reviewer hardly knows where to begin.   The Boston Globe The book's sheer enjoyability is given depth by Kingsolver's insight and compassion for Congo, including its people, and their language and sayings.   Publishers Weekly In this risky but resoundingly successful novel, Kingsolver leaves the Southwest, the setting of most of her work (The Bean Trees; Animal Dreams) and follows an evangelical Baptist minister's family to the Congo in the late 1950s, entwining their fate with that of the country during three turbulent decades. Nathan price's determination to convert the natives of the Congo to Christianity is, we gradually discover, both foolhardy and dangerous, unsanctioned by the church administration and doomed from the start by Nathan's self-righteousness.......Kingsolver moves into new moral terrain in this powerful, convincing and emotionally resonant novel.

Recent Reader Reviews

Rated of 5 by Dlee
Poisonwood Bible is Poisonous Crap.
This book was highly recommended; yet I am struggling like mad to get through it. I am not impressed. You have to really like slow books to like this one.

Rated of 5 by Scott
Could be better
I picked this book up after reading reviews on cover. It started well but lost its way about half way through. Kingsolver has done a beautiful job of describing the country and the character development of the daughters was great, but the male...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Michael
Fell Asleep on Page 50
This book was a waste of my time. Confusing at times with all the character switches and narrations. It was filled with religious allusions which bugged me to no end (and I'm even religious!) Drawn out and boring in large sections. As one review...   Read More

Rated of 5 by BHLee
Eyes Wide Open
An excellent study of the power of Faith, blind or otherwise. I'm a Christian but I am not in any way offended by Kingsolver's portrayal of the Prices. In fact, the family's journey in the story made me more reflective and appreciative of the need...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Elizabeth
Haunting and a page turner
"Beto nki tutasala? What are we doing?" quote from Page 523......and...I asked myself that question throughout the book as the Price Family continued with their missionary work and all the hardships and heartache the family endured....   Read More

Rated of 5 by Meredith
Come on...
Come on. Really? Is this author that hateful towards Christians that she has to make them look this awful? It's a drawn out, wreck of a book that only tries to make Christians look ignorant and supremest, white people foolish, and Africans...   Read More

...123 More Reader Reviews

Readalikes

If you liked The Poisonwood Bible, try these:

---

---

These are 2 of the 11 readalike suggestions for The Poisonwood Bible. Members have full access to all readalikes. If you are a member, please login. To find out more about membership, click here.

Books with similar themes

• Novels
  
• Africa 
  
• 1960s & '70s 
  
• Immigrants & Expatriates 
  
• Religious or Spiritual Themes 
  
• In Time of War & The Effects of War