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Prodigal Summer  By  cover art

Prodigal Summer

By: Barbara Kingsolver
Narrated by: Barbara Kingsolver
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Publisher's summary

Prodigal Summer weaves together three stories of human love within a larger tapestry of lives in southern Appalachia. At the heart of these intertwined narratives is a den of coyotes that have recently migrated into the region. Deanna Wolfe, a reclusive wildlife biologist, watches them from an isolated mountain cabin where she is caught off-guard by Eddie Bondo, a young hunter who comes to invade her most private spaces and her solitary life.

Down the mountain, another web of lives unfolds as Lusa Maluf Landowski, a bookish city girl turned farmer's wife, finds herself in a strange place where she must declare or lose her attachment to the land that has become her own. And a few more miles down the road, a pair of elderly, feuding neighbors tend their respective farms and wrangle about God, pesticides, and the possibilities the future holds.

Over the course of one long summer, these characters find connections to one another, and to the land, and the final, urgent truth that humans are only one piece of life on earth.

©2000 Barbara Kingsolver (P)2000 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Readers will be seduced by [Kingsolver's] effortless prose." (Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Prodigal Summer

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

wonderful

A wonderful book which should have won the Orange Prize read very well.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

my favorite

I'm a fan of all of Kingsolver's work, but this delicious novel remains my favorite. beautifully written and read by the author. a jewel

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Actually thought of quitting after the 1st hour!

Decided to trust my original decision to read it and then couldn’t put it down.
Oh, I hope for a sequel now! Please please please!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

The Bird Tweets Ruined It

I love Barbara Kingsover, so when I saw she, herself, was reading this one, I was excited. It took me a second to get used to her accents, but once I did, I really enjoyed her soft, southern voice. HOWEVER!!!! Someone thought they were being creative or something and added the wretched bird cheeps and tweets at the end and beginning of each chapter. It wouldn't be a big deal, except the volume on about four of them is so much higher than anything else, it practically blows out my eardrum. I ave to wear headphones, so these loud cheeps are physically painful. About Chapter 3, I realized I was going to have to turn down the sound, wait for the four loud squawks, and then turn the volume up again. That totally screws up the flow. I enjoyed the book, but the bird sounds ruined it for me. And my ears. :/

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Fun but weird

If you could sum up Prodigal Summer in three words, what would they be?

Great for nature lovers!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Lusa. I like who she becomes after the situation with her husband. I like how she talks to people.

What about Barbara Kingsolver’s performance did you like?

I think she did a good job. Some reviewers did not like her voice, but I thought it was fine.

If you could take any character from Prodigal Summer out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Garnet. He's a loser for ignoring his grandchildren all these years! He needs someone to kick him in the behind. If grandparents think that grandchildren are responsible for the relationship they are mistaken and will be sorely disappointed.

Any additional comments?

Spoiler. Lots of sex. Mostly "extra marital," with detailed descriptions, which I find unnecessary. I like to know these things when I choose a book. Not much bad language. I like to know that too. I found the author to be a little over the edge with her apparent obsession with large age difference relationships - including an aunt/nephew thing. Weird.


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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Sexy, insightful, funny, and informative

This talented woman can both write and read with a skill that makes me want to be reborn—to try again.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Very enjoyable

Lately I have been actively seeking books which stay away from tired old storylines and this is a book that of avoids those predictable plots.

Kingsolver does a beautiful job of narrating, giving each character subtle but obvious distinctions. I love her voice.

There were a few times where the environmental sermons were a bit too thinly veiled as narrative for my liking but the amount of food for thought it gave me more than made up for the shortcoming


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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Listen

A balm in a world of worry; layered in observational detail that makes a body ache.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Beautifully told

Well written and the kind of story that makes you sad when it is over. The narration is perfection.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful listen

Another wonderful performance by Barbara Kingsolver. She takes you right into a place where every one of your senses meet with words spoken. Her words teach me with such eloquence that I hang onto every one of them as if life depended on them. Just to realize life does indeed depend on them.

Thank you once again!

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