description: “A powerful new epic . . . [Kingsolver] has with infinitely steady hands worked the prickly threads of religion, politics, race, sin and redemption into a thing of terrible beauty.” —Los Angeles Times Book ReviewThe 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. Taking its place alongside the classic works of postcolonial literature, this ambitious novel establishes Kingsolver as one of the most thoughtful and daring of modern writers.
language: English
title: The Poisonwood Bible
titlecomplete: The Poisonwood Bible
characters: Rachel Rebeccah Price, Orleanna Price, Dr Bud Wharton, Nathan Price, Reverend & Mrs. Underdown, Adah Price, Ruth May Price, Leah Price
genres: Fiction, Historical, Religion, Literature, Classics, Novels, Adult Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Africa
ratings_count: 728144
places: Kilanga, Leopoldville, Sanderling Island, Georgia, Bethlehem, Georgia
awards: awardedAt: 915177600000
name: Pulitzer Prize
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 915177600000
name: Orange Prize
category: Fiction Shortlist, awardedAt: 946713600000
name: Book Sense Book of the Year Award
category: Adult, awardedAt: 915177600000
name: PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, awardedAt: 915177600000
name: Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY)
category: Audio Fiction - Unabridged, awardedAt: 946713600000
name: Exclusive Books Boeke Prize, awardedAt: 978336000000
name: Puddly Award
category: Novel, awardedAt: 946713600000
name: Dublin Literary Award
publisher: Brilliance Audio