The Poisonwood Bible

Barbara Kingsolver’s magnum opus follows a Georgia missionary family’s self-destruction in the dark jungles of the Belgian Congo. The story is narrated by the mother and four daughters as the father, Nathan Price, leads his family to a remote village where they live squalid lives.

In a series of misadventures, he is resolute and foolish, attempting to lead the natives to Christ. Through poverty, culture clashes, and even death, the American women learn to depend on the villagers as Nathan blindly attempts to shove them into an Americanized form of Christianity. Kingsolver’s epic is an engrossing study of how destructive… show more.

At first, I was scared by the thickness of the book. More than 600 pages? I didn’t think I would have the patience and time to finish it. My book club chose the book as a reading challenge for everyone. A challenge indeed. But a colorful one.

I remember carrying the book with me everywhere I went. As I finally reached the last page of this riveting family saga set in Africa, I felt older and wiser. Wow, I actually finished the thick novel. It was a great achievement.

I was never bored or tired. I did not want the… show more.

When I read Poisonwood Bible, I was instantly with the characters, especially the children as they boarded the plane for the Congo dressed in layers of clothing because they could only bring a limited amount. The story of the evangelical preacher Nathan Price and his family who arrive in the Belgian Congo in 1959 completely unprepared for what they will see and experience does what great fiction can do. It dramatizes the intimate at the same time illumining the larger story and forces at play.

Barbara weaves history, politics, and family drama masterfully with the compelling narrative voices of… show more.

At first, I was intimidated by the mere size of this book, but once I started reading it was almost impossible to put down.

A family’s religious mission to Africa goes wrong. For example, when was the last time giant ants woke you up at 2 am, attacking you from head to toe and everyone in your family and in your entire neighborhood at the same time? I hope never.

It's a remarkable read. Not to mention the amazing life transformations along the way. After finishing this book, I wanted more. So I went out and got every single one… show more.

In this novel the mother, Orleanna, and then her four daughters, Rachel, Adah, Leah, and Ruth May, narrate the story of their lives in the Congo, where their father, Nathan Price, is a missionary during the 1960s.

It takes place during the Congo’s fight for independence and the drama is high. We realize each daughter’s ‘journey’ as she grows individually, influenced by their father’s mission and by living in Africa. All four sisters have their own destiny.

This is an unforgettable sister story, one where social influences and a life in Africa have a profound effect on the characters. I… show more.

This novel sucked me in from the get-go, following an American family as they move to Congo to be missionaries.

It captures the thrill and the fear of the unknown, and fed my obsession for wanting to spend more time in Africa. I also really liked how foreign the characters feel in their new home, only to find they also feel foreign once they return to their home country.

I could relate to being totally changed by one’s experiences.

The Poisonwood Bible took me completely out of my 21st-century, privileged world and dumped me unceremoniously into the 1960s in the Belgian Congo.

The novel takes the Price sisters and their mother on that journey too, into the ugly truth of colonialism and the U.S. government’s proxy war there against the Soviet Union.

I relived my childhood of the sixties with its prescribed “Barbie” roles for girls. I cheered for the sisters battling for autonomy and mourned with their mother. I fell in love with the beauty of the Congo, the forest “that eats itself”, the river and even… show more.

By turns funny and enraging, this book reads like the best kind of women’s fiction…and it just happens to have a historical setting. 

Told by a whopping five narrators (who Kingsolver lends exceptionally distinct voices), this story follows a white family from the American south as they undertake a Baptist mission in the Congo in 1959 and find their lives and beliefs unraveling against the backdrop of the Congo’s fight for independence from Belgium. 

This book was my first introduction to the Congo’s fight for independence and one of the most formative books of my own reading life. I still… show more.

This book would stand out because of the gorgeous prose alone. But when you add in a multi-layered story of an American family torn apart by hubris in the African jungle, you get a true masterpiece. The novel’s premise is provocative—a family of daughters living in post-colonial Africa with a narcissistic father intent on converting the natives to his perverse, non-yielding brand of religion. And as expected, this is a story that is tragic and epic in a way that makes you question the arrogance of humanity in all its iterations. But what makes it especially memorable is how it… show more.

From its enigmatic opening lines, this novel captivates, holding you in an embrace that forces you to see the things you don’t want to see and acknowledge the things you don’t want to acknowledge. The Poisonwood Bible does what all great literary fiction tries to do: it changes the way we relate to ourselves, each other, and our history.