Her setting isn't London, but southwest Virginia; her critical target isn't first wave industrialism, but big pharma. Think Purdue Pharma and oxycontin.
Narrated by the grownup title character, nicknamed Demon Copperhead, this novel is both brutal... and beautiful.
Demon is fatherless before he's born, caring for his addict mother by grade school, abused by his stepdad, and motherless by eleven. Assigned one social worker after another, and mistreated by cruel foster families, resilience and a few good souls help Demon survive. But unthinkable misfortune always awaits. About one calamity, he says "At the time, I thought my life couldn't get any worse. Here's some advice: Don't ever think that.”
The novel pulls no punches in depicting dehumanized children like Demon. You will weep at their plight and rage at their persecutors.
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Yet we know the story goes somewhere because Demon survives to tell it with honesty and perspective. Late on, he says, "I've tried... to pinpoint... where everything starts to fall apart.. But there's also the opposite, where some little nut cracks open inside you and a tree starts to grow." That tree's beauty-the miracle of Demon Copperhead-will bring you tears of joy.
Kingsolver is an artist. Her characters are deeply textured and multidimensional. She exquisitely paints Appalachian wildflowers, sunsets, and mountain vistas.
But this is not a novel for the Pollyanish or prudish. Tragically debauched lives, portrayed with R-rated realism, abound.
For whom is this heart-wrenching, award-winning novel? Kingsolver tells us: "For the kids who wake up hungry in those dark places every day, who've lost their families to poverty and pain pills, whose caseworkers keep losing their files, who feel invisible, or wish they were: this book is for you."
In these, the last words of Kingsolver's book, we catch a glimpse of the author's passion, her conviction, her sorrow, and her hope that we Americans might do better for children who are neglected and forgotten. Demon Copperhead is truly a fitting heir to David Copperfield. I hope you read this Pulitzer Prize-winner, feel its urgency, and do something about it!
