There is not a single source listed, however, that could help Kingsolver understand the people at the center of her story: Southern Baptists. Its twenty-eight sources are about understanding Africa: Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman, Venomous Snakes and Management of Snakebite in Southern Africa, and so on. This point is reinforced with a bibliography. It begins with an “Author’s Note” in which Kingsolver assures readers that she has done her research. The problem with The Poisonwood Bible is not that it makes missionaries look bad it’s that it makes novelists look bad. Human nature being what it is, there is no sin known to man that has not been committed at some time by some missionary. In a none-too-subtle metaphor, he won’t even adapt to Congolese culture when it comes to agriculture, but absurdly pretends like there is no such thing as different climates. He is thus the epitome of someone who doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. The novel is narrated by these five women.ĭespite refusing to do the required training, Nathan bullied the Southern Baptist Mission League into giving him their blessing and a stipend. He brings along his wife, Orleanna, and their daughters, Rachel (15), Leah and Adah (13-year-old twins), and Ruth May (5).
Nathan is a Southern Baptist pastor who in 1959 becomes a missionary to the Congo. It was named one of the Ten Best Books of 2022 by the New York Times, and we can expect that as 2023 unfolds it will appear on shortlists for literary prizes.Ģ023 is also a fitting moment to revisit Kingsolver’s bestselling The Poisonwood Bible (1998), which turns twenty-five this year. Revisiting the Barbara Kingsolver bestseller-in which a person becomes a parableīarbara Kingsolver’s Demon Cooperheadhas been widely acclaimed.
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