Prodigal Summer (2000) is the fifth novel by American author Barbara Kingsolver. Heavily emphasizing ecological themes and her trademark interweaving plots, this novel tells three stories of love, loss and connections in rural Virginia.
Plot summaryProdigal Summer tells the story of a small town in Appalachia during a single, humid summer, when three interweaving stories of love, loss and family unfold against the backdrop of the lush wildness of Virginia mountains. The narrative follows Deanna, a solitary woman working as a park ranger; Lusa, a recently widowed entomologist at odds with her late farmer husband's tight-knit family; and Garnett, an old man who dreams of restoring the lineage of the extinct American Chestnut tree.
Kingsolver's extensive education in biology is on display in this book, laden with ecological concepts and biological facts. Her writing also exhibits her knowledge of rural Virginia, where she has lived for decades. In the acknowledgments Kingsolver thanks her Virginia friends and neighbors, as well as Fred Herbard of the American Chestnut Foundation.[1]
ReceptionThe Daily Telegraph reported on reviews from several publications with a rating scale for the novel out of "Love It", "Pretty Good", "Ok", and "Rubbish": Daily Telegraph, Independent, Sunday Telegraph, and New Statesman reviews under "Love It" and Guardian, Times, and Sunday Times reviews under "Pretty Good" and Literary Review and TLS reviews under "Ok".[2][3]
Notes- ^ "Brief Biography | Barbara Kingsolver". www.kingsolver.com. Archived from the original on 2010-07-14.
- ^ "Books of the moment: What the papers say". The Daily Telegraph. 27 Jan 2001. p. 58. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
- ^ "Books of the moment: What the papers say". The Daily Telegraph. 2 Dec 2000. p. 60. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
- Prodigal Summer at the author's official site
- New York Times review of Prodigal Summer
- Science & Film interview about film adaptation of Prodigal Summer
