Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
5/5 STARS
Barbara Kingsolver is a straight-up genius, and these pages are packed full of grief, sex, titillating romance, familial conflict, and a full-blown education about the flora, fauna, and landscape of rural Appalachia. The book rotates between the perspectives of three characters who are fundamentally different, yet connected all the same. The book opens with Deanna Walker a ranger positioned up in the wooded mountain all by her lonesome. Deanna is impressively skilled and a dedicated scientist exploring the growth of the coyote population despite hunters attempt to kill them into extinction. Then we have, Lusa Maluf Landowski Widener, a half-Palestinian, half-Jewish farmer's wife who hasn’t quite settled into the farming life after being pulled away from city life. She struggles to fit in with a family who have been settled in this place for generations. Grief rips her apart, and farming puts her back together again. And lastly, we have Garnett Walker, a prickly old man who has a lot more smarts than he does social acceptance. Farmers work a hard job and live a hard life and sometimes find themselves stuck in old ways, but the lives and hearts of creative women seem to turn those old thoughts to dust. These characters find themselves deeply connected to the land and to each other. This is whimsical, lyrical, and poetic. I wanted to “touch grass” every time I opened this book to read it. I walked away with a greater appreciation for nature, prickly humans, familial and generational conflict, farming, and a desire to get into bird watching.
Pairs well with:
A pair of loved Hamilton Brown Carhartt pants. You know the ones. All of your Brooklyn-based queers own a pair, and they never really go out of style. You thrifted them from some mountain town, and they fit snug and just right. They’ve got the Copenhagen dip canister indent in the back left pocket and holes where the belt loops should connect. There are a few paint stains left on them, and the knees are a bit darker than the rest of the pants. A Verboten Pilsner brewed in Loveland, CO. This book is light and whimsical and doesn’t ask too much of the reader except to trust and to keep reading. Just like a pilsner, it’s refreshing and easy to drink. Barbara Kingsolver does a great job tying up loose ends and I gaurantee you, you’ll want to grab your camp chair, find a shady aspen grove, crack open a beer, and dive in.
Recommended for:
A person who takes pleasure and pride being outside. Someone who likes to read longer descriptions of the landscape, and learn a thing or two about the wilderness. Someone who is familiar with grief and the ways in which is creeps into your body and home like Japanese Knotweed. There is a bit of romance involved, so if you’re sick for a little bit of loving, you wouldn’t hate picking this one up.
Photo taken in Denver, CO.