Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver: A review

In 2022, I read Barbara Kingsolver's book The Bean Trees and I loved it, awarding it four out of five stars. When I heard that Kingsolver had written a new book featuring some of the Bean Tree characters, I wasted no time getting hold of it. I'm happy to say that it did not disappoint. This one, too, is certainly worthy of four stars.

Once again we meet Taylor and her (maybe not legally) adopted daughter, Turtle. They are happily living in Tucson. Taylor is White with perhaps a drop of Cherokee blood from a great-grandparent. Turtle is a Cherokee child who had been "given" to Taylor in Oklahoma by the child's aunt who was trying to rescue her from an abusive situation. 

The events of this novel take place three years later. When Turtle is witness to an accident and a Cherokee lawyer named Annawake, who has a personal stake in the Indian Child Welfare Act, becomes involved and learns of Turtle's story, the lawyer realizes that things with Taylor's and Turtle's relationship don't quite add up.  She visits Taylor to discuss it but that causes Taylor to panic and she takes Turtle and runs. She knows that she needs to make her relationship with Turtle legal and she returns with her to Oklahoma to try to adopt her but without letting the tribe know.

Meanwhile, Taylor's mother, Alice, who has just emerged from a brief marriage, goes to stay with a relative on tribal lands and attempts to get to know the family that Turtle came from in an attempt to resolve the sticky situation.  

Taylor is prone to making unwise decisions that prove unhelpful to her and Turtle's situation, but her motivation is always her love for Turtle and her fear of having her taken away from her. The reader feels for her (at least this reader does). Haven't we all been guilty of sometimes making unwise decisions, especially when our judgment is clouded by emotion? 

Kingsolver imbues her characters, even the less likable ones, with believable humanity. We care about them and their story and we want things to turn out for the best. I found Pigs in Heaven hard to put down for that reason. I couldn't wait to find out how things were going to be resolved and how the problems presented were going to be sorted out. It takes a rare writing talent to so thoroughly engage the reader's sympathies. Kingsolver is such a talent.

Comments

  1. jabblogOctober 30, 2024 at 4:39 AM

    That sounds an intriguing page turner. Life can be so complicated.

    ReplyDelete
  2. David M. Gascoigne,October 30, 2024 at 6:16 AM

    I have read “Poisonwood Diaries” and I think that Miriam has read everything Kingsolver has written. I am a little puzzled by your reference to “Pigs in Heaven” as a new book. It was published in 1993.

    ReplyDelete

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