19.
The Poisonwood Bible
By Barbara Kingsolver
Because Barbara Kingsolver has a sneaky way of making us more empathic.
The Price family of Bethlehem, Georgia, arrives
in Kilanga, Congo in 1959 as Baptist missionaries. The patriarch, Reverend
Price, is a silver-tongued tent revival preacher who has dragged his wife and
four daughters to this squalid African outpost for the exalted purpose of
bringing salvation to the natives. Unyielding in his faith, and blind to the
surrounding realities of the Congolese culture, the reverend refuses to
acknowledge the complete and utter failure of this enterprise. The women of the
family, however, have their own individual perspectives. As the five narrators
of the novel, they observe and comment the clash of cultures, the struggle to
overcome stifling conventions, and the preservation of heritage—each
with an utterly unique, convincing voice that draws you deeper into the story
of a family's unraveling.
Featured in Oprah's Book Club in June 2000.
