The Poisonwood Bible

I read The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver for my English class last semester. Though it was a little slow at first, I found that it was really enjoyable and interesting. The Poisonwood Bible is centered around the Price family, who (under the thumb of their domineering and proud father, Nathan) move to the Congo to do missionary work. The story is told from the point of view of the four daughters (Leah, Adah, Ruth May, and Rachel) and their mother. My favorite character is Adah. Adah thinks about everything and rarely speaks. One of my favorite parts of the book is when Adah tells a story about being in Sunday School as a child and asking the teacher why people who have never heard of God won't be saved. It seems to little Adah that that isn't fair at all. Instead of being helpful, however, her teacher makes her kneel in the corner on uncooked rice as punishment. Once Sunday School is over, Adah says, "When I finally got up with sharp grains imbedded in my knees, I found, to my surprise, that I no longer believed in God" (Kingsolver, 171). Each sister in the story is just as interesting as Adah, though. Rachel is the oldest and is a fairly stereotypical teenage girl. She's interested in boys and clothes. Leah is Adah's twin, who feels that Adah is a burden to her and who hangs on to every word out of her father's mouth. Ruth May is the youngest. Kingsolver brilliantly managed to turn Ruth May's simple observations into huge insights for the reader. I highly recommend this book, especially if you like books similar to East of Eden by John Steinbeck.