Stunning! Epic! Where do I begin? Well the endnotes provide the framework for this extraordinary novel: Barbara Kingsolver thanks Charles Dickens for creating David Copperfield and writing about the damage poverty had on children at that time. Sadly, those problems are still with us. Our narrator Demon (born Damon) is born into abject poverty and addiction in Appalachia with few options for a happy and productive life. He is acutely aware he is poor but yet he is a proud boy who can still be hopeful and optimistic.
โ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐บ ๐ช๐ง ๐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ, ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด: ๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ญ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ.โ
This book is also a damning indictment of the American foster care system and the effects of poverty and hunger on our nationโs children. Drugs and addiction seem to be the common thread tying everything and everyone together in this poverty-stricken section of Kentucky:
โ๐๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ? ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด๐ฏโ๐ต? ๐๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ฌ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฆโ๐ด ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฅ. ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐บ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ. ๐๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ.โ
Itโs not all rage and sadness though, as Demon is an incredible narrator, showing wit and smarts and a will to survive. The ending also gives the reader a glimmer of hope for Demon’s future. This book might be my favorite book of 2022.
About the Book:
Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, this is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. In a plot that never pauses for breath, relayed in his own unsparing voice, he braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.
Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens’ anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can’t imagine leaving behind.
