The Poisonwood Bible

Although it took me quite some time to read this, this is a truly beautiful book – well written and insightful.

The Poisonwood Bible concerns the members of the Price family – all women except for the father Nathan.  Nathan is a Baptist minister who ‘answers the call’ to bring the heathens of the Congo to God. So his poor wife and four daughters go along with him. They are remarkably unprepared for what they will find awaiting them – both physically and mentally. It is a journey from which not all of them are destined to return.

Each of the five female characters narrate the story, with different chapters from each unique perspective.  Orleanna, the wife is long-suffering.  Her marriage has been an unhappy one and she has never had the strength to stand up to her abusive husband.  The eldest daughter Rachel – a novelty in the Congo due to her blonde hair and pale complexion – is self-involved.  The twins, Leah and Adah are both extremely intelligent.  Leah comes to find herself in the Congo, embracing some of the native customs and interesting herself in the politics of the nation, whilst Adah, misshapen and slow of movement, watches it all from a distance.  Energetic Ruth May is the one who makes the first connections with the local children, and seems to understand both the most and the least of what is going on at the same time.

Nathan refuses to allow the family to leave when the political situation worsens and as the months pass, the family falls further and further into desperate times.  Their need to cling to civilization looks sillier and sillier. Some will resent the underlying critique of misisonary work – and perhaps even of religion itself, but to me it all rang rather true. The poor family find themsleves stranded in a culture they do not know, and that for much of the time they are not willing to get to know. This changes over time, and the quiet village folk – who show so much strange kindness to this deflated family – are the real heroes of the novel. 

A tragedy sparks their exodus, but all of the women are shaped forever by the time they spent there. 

The novel focuses mainly on the time the family spends in the remote village of Kilanga, but also follows the girls in their later years of life so we can see the effect disseminate through the years.

The Poisonwood Bible is an astounding first novel by Barbara Kingsolver – one of the best things I have read in years. This novel will get to you, so pick it up now and allow it to touch your world.