I am so happy my sister recommended the newly released Demon Copperhead. While I have never before read a Barbara Kingsolver book, I found this a great read and struggled to put it down.
Connected in premise to Dickens' famous David Copperfield, this book also tells the story of a young boy struggling with the challenges of institutional poverty and less than desirable parental figures. While Dickens famous tale did inspire Kingsolver, her version is a much more modern and painful look at the difficulties of poverty and the onset of easily attainable oxycontin in the late 90s in southwestern Virginia (and adjoining states).
While the books is filled with heartache and sad stories, it was an unbelievably engaging read. Even though this book focused on less than a decade of time of Demon (Damon's) life, the story was powerful as it detailed the formative years of his life in and out of foster care situations and battle with his other's powerful drug addictions. Coincidentally, a major theme of the book was the quick and horrific rise of oxycontin in America; a subject I read about in detail and reviewed less than two months ago via the powerful Empire of Pain (review here). Observing real life (albeit fictionalized) details of the painful consequences when large numbers of people begin abusing this powerful drug was an omnipresent aspect of this story.
Like many novels of longer length (this comes in at over 500 pages), Kingsolver did an amazing job of creating depth and a richness to most of the book's characters. That, coupled with her strong storytelling skills, truly made this book a super read. While there were some parts were it almost felt too sad or depressing to carry on, she would offer a small joke or positive spin on something less consequential to offer some much needed relief. The arc of the story is also to connect with due to her playful and easy to access writing style. Written in the first person perspective of an adolescent (and eventual teen) boy, the book is right on tone and kept me fully immersed in wanting to know what would happen next. While there were a few notable twists and turns (especially in the last 20% of the story), much of the book was a description of day to day lives (again, not ones that are as familiar for many of us (while probably too real for others)).
While I am not confident that everyone will enjoy this book as much I did, I do think it has a lot to offer. While a sad story, it's feels realistic and full, and I think is accessible to most readers. The main character is a one you can't help but root for, especially as you learn more and more about the difficulties he had to battle to live a positive life. Enjoy what is truly a modern (and better!) version of a classic story.
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