The Poisonwood Bible

I'm so pleased The Poisonwood Bible got such a good hearing in Novel 2 - it is one of my all-time favourite novels, ambitious in scope and hauntingly memorable. Just checked my copy and the mother, Orleanna Price, does haver her own sections:

Listen, little beast. Judge me as you will, but first listen. I am your mother. What happened to us could have happened anywhere, to any mother. I'm not the first mother on earth to have seen her daughters possessed. For time and eternity there have been fathers like Nathan who simply can see no way to have a duaghter but to own her like plot of land. To work her, plow her under, rain down a dreadful poison upon her. Miraculously, it causes these girls to grow. They elongate on the pale slender stalks of their longing, like sunflowers with heavy heads. You can shield them with your body and soul, trying to absorb that awful rain, but they'll still more toward him. Wihout cease, they'll bend to his light. p.217.

Read an interview with Barbara Kingsolver here. It's interesting what she says about handling the five different points of view.

Here's a more recent inteview with Bill Moyers.

For students in Short Story who want to read a review of Swallow the Air, try this link.

I'll be putting up homework and work for the week I'm away later this week, so watch this space! It might be slightly erratic over the next few days as I'm battling a computer virus. Grrrr.