LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
BOOKED Solid |
Reviewed by Rebecca James |
Prodigal Summer, by Barbara Kingsolver Harper Collins Publishers, 2000
"Solitude is a human presumption. Every quiet step is thunder to beetle life underfoot, a tug of impalpable thread on the web pulling mate to mate and predator to prey, a beginning or an end. Every choice is a world made new for the chosen." from Prodigal Summer A small town in the Southern Appalachian region is the setting for Barbara Kingsolver's latest novel. She creates three separate stories that slowly intertwine around the fate of love, survival, and a pack of wild coyotes. A few months ago, NPR featured interviews with a woman who rehabilitates and releases wild animals; her latest endeavor is several coyote pups. People in the surrounding region hunt coyotes and more than a few of her neighbors are upset with her decision to rescue these babies. One of the main characters in Kingsolver's novel, Prodigal Summer, deals with the same issues. Deanna Wolfe lives alone in the woods; she works for the Forest Service maintaining trails and protecting the wildlife in a small part of the Appalachian mountains in Virginia. A wildlife biologist and researcher, Deanna follows the development of a pack of coyotes near her cabin. As Prodigal Summer begins, hunter Eddie Bondo interrupts her reclusive lifestyle with physical attention and an emotionally charged debate regarding the fate of the large prey living on the mountain. In the Zebulon valley below, city-bred Lusa Landowski faces the sudden loss of her young husband and searches for a niche of her own in his overbearing and distrustful family. Highly educated and born to immigrant parents, Lusa feels out of place on the southern farmers' family land without her husband. Her relationships with her sisters-in-law and their families are tense and riddled with suspicion. After weeks of depression following Cole's death, Lusa pools her storehouse of creativity and comes up with a plan to save the debt-ridden farm. Her unusual methods of farming first earn laughs from her in-laws and other farmers; as her plan matures, however, they begin to see the profit involved and Lusa gains their respect. Along the way, Lusa finally learns that the close-knit and formidable group of relatives who surround her have their own fears and problems with each other, too. She earns a friend in her late husband's sister and confidant, Jewel, when Jewel begins chemotherapy. Lusa begins to recognize that she has something to offer this small-town family and that they, too, may have a lesson for her. Jewel's two children don't fit into the Widener family any more than Lusa does. The oldest, a trash mouth tomboy named Crys prefers beat up jeans and grubby T-shirts to dresses, while Jewel's boy, Lowell, is soft-spoken and "feminine." Lusa feels a certain bond with the two misfits, and as Jewel grows weaker, she realizes that she, Lusa, may be the most open-minded caretaker for the children in the Widener family. Meanwhile, on the outskirts of town, neighbors Garnett Walker and Nannie Rawley feed their long-standing feud over pesticides, chestnut trees, and organic apples with self-righteous accusations and wisecracks. Nannie is, according to Garnett, a bra-burning, witchcraft-practicing Unitarian. Garnett, on the other hand, is regarded by Nannie as a bitter, sanctimonious old fart. Old age gives these two humorous and touching personalities; over this fateful summer, their mutual fears and absurditiesnot to mention failing eyesightbring them together. Garnett impresses Nannie with his experimentation with American Chestnut breeding. He has spent years crossing the nearly extinct tree with its Chinese cousin that wiped out the American species decades earlier, creating a blight-resistant American Chestnut similar to the ones his family logged for generations. Nannie, on the other hand, gives Garnett a lesson or two about organic farming, and reveals the two hidden, living, old American Chestnuts on her family's property. Mutual acts of kindness, and the revelation that one is never too old to change, create a friendship after years of bickering. With these three stories established, Kingsolver, using the subtext of nature's predator and prey relationship, explores their impact on each other and the town as their lives collide. A novel of misfits, Prodigal Summer teaches the reader a valuablebut not preachylesson about one's place in the grand scheme of life. Every character begins their story feeling alone, isolated, and completely independent. Throughout the novel, each person learns that no matter how satisfied Deanna, Lusa, Garnett, and Nellie were living alone, their existence is hardly without connection to the world. Kingsolver's novels are great tales of love and relationships; Prodigal Summer is no exception. Fans of her Poisonwood Bible or the earlier Bean Trees will love her latest work. If you have not yet experienced Kingsolver's talent, Prodigal Summer is a great place to start. The first few chapters may be difficult to get into because they don't seem to be connected, but hang in there, it's well worth it. Rebecca James lives in Allentown, Pennsylvania, but will be spending her summer in Rehoboth Beach. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 11, No. 6, June 1, 2001. |