![]() Many of Kingsolver's later works are set in the American southwest and address the culture clash between Native Americans and Anglos. ![]() The novel focuses on a young Anglo woman who moves to Arizona after adopting a Cherokee girl. In 1981, she earned a master's degree in ecology and evolutionary biology from the University of Arizona and soon began working as a technical writer and freelance journalist.īy 1987, she decided to devote her time to writing fiction, and in the following year, her first novel, The Bean Trees, was published and gained national acclaim. After eventually earning a degree at DePauw, Kingsolver lived for periods of time in Europe and the United States, supporting herself with an array of occupations, including typesetter, x-ray technician, copy editor, biological researcher, and translator. During her junior year at DePauw University where she was studying biology, she took time off to work in Europe as an archaeologist's assistant. At that time, Kingsolver began her life-long habit of writing in a journal. When she was in the second grade, her father accepted a medical position in the Congo and moved his family there. As she watched her country doctor father serve the poor and working class, she developed a sense of social responsibility and devotion to community that was later expressed in her writing. Author BiographyĬelebrated author, journalist, and human rights and environmental activist, Barbara Kingsolver was born in Annapolis, Maryland, on April 8, 1955, but she grew up in rural Kentucky. Reviewers have applauded the novel's compelling characters, its political themes, and Kingsolver's insight into the complex dynamics of the family. Kingsolver's intermingling of politics and human drama results in a satisfying tale of betrayal and forgiveness. interference in their political and social affairs. The family's troubles become life-threatening as the Congolese fight for their independence from Belgium and from U.S. Orleanna Price, along with her four daughters, struggles to adapt to and to survive the harsh conditions there while her husband, Nathan Price, descends into madness as he tries and fails to force the villagers to adopt his rigid Christian doctrines. The novel focuses on the experiences of the Price family, who arrive in the Congo in 1959, emissaries of the Southern Baptist Mission League. Yet here, she widens her scope to include three decades in the second half of the twentieth century during a time of political upheaval in the Congo. The novel sold more hardcover copies than all of Kingsolver's previous works put together, including three novels, short story collections, a poetry collection, and two nonfiction works.Īs in many of her other stories, Kingsolver in The Poisonwood Bible focuses on the complexities of family relationships and communities in which people experience a clash of cultures. Her fourth novel, however, became an overwhelming critical and popular success, especially after Oprah Winfrey chose it for her book club. When The Poisonwood Bible was published in 1998, Barbara Kingsolver was already a well-established and respected author.
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