Synopsis (credit: www.kingsolver.com)

The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it — from garden seeds to Scripture — is calamitously transformed on African soil.

What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa.

Shortlist: Pulitzer Fiction Prize for Fiction 1999.
Shortlist: PEN/Faulkner Foundation Awards 1999.
Shortlist: Orange Prize 1999.
On the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die List.

(Bought second-hand at The Book Shoppe, Kirstenhof.)

Barbara Kingsolver will be visiting South Africa later this month. Although I have four of her books on my bookshelf, I haven't read any of them yet ... until now.

The Poisonwood Bible introduces the reader to the intimate side of Africa and her people, touching on so many things that shaped its history. Without ever oversimplifying matters, she observes with a sharp mind and a compassionate heart. This work is a huge undertaking that wasn't merely researched: it was lived, tasted and digested — both from a young and more mature viewpoint. A powerful book!

Given to Boekswael, who may have a bit more time for reading in the coming months.