The Poisonwood Bible

By: Barbara Kingsolver

Narrated by: Dean Robertson

Length: 15 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

“A powerful new epic... [Kingsolver] has with infinitely steady hands worked the prickly threads of religion, politics, race, sin and redemption into a thing of terrible beauty.” - Los Angeles Times Book Review

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.

The novel is set against one of the most dramatic political chronicles of the twentieth century: the Congo's fight for independence from Belgium, the murder of its first elected prime minister, the CIA coup to install his replacement, and the insidious progress of a world economic order that robs the fledgling African nation of its autonomy. Taking its place alongside the classic works of postcolonial literature, this ambitious novel establishes Kingsolver as one of the most thoughtful and daring of modern writers.

©1998 by Barbara Kingsolver. (P)1998 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Haunting...A novel of character, a narrative shaped by keen-eyed women." (New York Times Book Review)

"Beautifully written....Kingsolver's tale of domestic tragedy is more than just a well-told yarn.. Played out against the bloody backdrop of political struggles in Congo that continue to this day, it is also particularly timely." (People)

"The book's sheer enjoyability is given depth by Kingsolver's insight and compassion for Congo, including its people, and their language and sayings." (Boston Globe)

There are no words…

Barbara Kingsolver is a magnificent writer, and perfectly paints a picture of the Congo, present day Zaire. There are parts in this book that leave me in tears every single time I read it. Yes, the narrator of this audiobook left something to be desired, but it didn’t matter, the book, the writing the characters, speaks for itself. My favorite character, by far, is Ada, and when her family basically cast her aside, it tears at me. The loss of the youngest, my poor heart just weeps. This is one of my favorite books of all time and I cannot recommend it enough.

Beautiful

A beautifully written difficult story. I enjoyed the audiobook. Kept my attention. Love Barbara Kingsolver.

Great story

While the narration could have been better, the story was great and very very interesting!

Love,Love,Love

I absolutely loved this book. So well written. At first I had apprehension about the narrator, but I became used to her voice and loved it.

Powerful writing

An immersive journey that showcases the struggles of personality conflicts in familial relationships as the collective family struggle to accept and adapt to new lives in the Congo.

Worth the read

This was a wonderful trip to a place I will never see. Reminders of Little Women. The journey of 5 women and how they were affected by the Congo and its changes. I loved it.

Her empathy for growth and destruction are admirable.

This book spoke and it was wonderful to resonate with the characters. I am touched.

Complex characters and themes

Thought provoking ideas and an entertaining story. I feel like I know and empathize with each member of the Price family.

The Great American Novel

Barbara Kingsolver is one of the all-time great American writers. This book may be her finest. Filled with with, interesting historic and ecological details, cultural, astuteness, and character development. I hadn’t read this book since it was first published, and remembered it well. It was even better than what I remembered.

Astonishingly good book

i'd heard about this novel for years but resolutely refused to read it, convinced, for some reason, that it was about a dauntless matriarch in Indiana or thereabouts.

Not a bit of it. The Congo in the days of Lumumba is the setting for most of it. Four little women are taken there by their madly evangelical preacher father and long-suffering mother. Their tribulations are epic, the physical world that surrounds them is sensuously vivid. Each sister takes a different path, as does the mother, but the pattern comes together.

A most absorbing read.