Prodigal Summer

By: Barbara Kingsolver

Narrated by: Barbara Kingsolver

Length: 15 hrs and 46 mins

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)

the perfect time

19 years ago Barbara kingsolver knew this book was a message that needed to be delivered but perhaps we weren't quite ready yet. It is also the sexiest book about the environment and insect and animal life that I have ever read! It is beautifully read as only an author can read with all of the dialect and age appropriate character voices both internal and external. Please don't miss this one

An old favorite

I read this book several years ago but hearing Barabara Kingsolver read it was such a treat! What a great intertwining of stories and character arcs!

Not my cup if tea

I think I read it once before - it was that unmemorable. I tried getting through it but I just didn't enjoy it. I think she is a fine writer who lacks focus at times.

One for the bookshelf

A keeper to re-read and or to re-listen to. Wonderful characters...both human and those apart of the world of Nature.

One of my Faves!

I read this book every Spring. It never gets old. The book has three separate stories that intertwine. There are a pair of characters in each segment that are fun and unique and really well developed. I always get sad when the story shifts to the next set of characters but then I am swept into their drama immediatly. There is all sorts of wonderful themes that were nature based like entomology, organic farming, the cycle of the seasons, and indigenous wildlife. This book is a real treat.

Amazing!

I’ve listened to this book four times. It’s that wonderful. I keep looking for a book I like as much as this one, but I’ve had no luck so far. Make sure you listen further than the first chapter, which can strike some as a bit sugary sweet and/or sumptuous. The stories need a little time time to unfold, but I promise you that they to.

Best Audiobook ever

I've listened to this book ever spring for almost a decade I think! It's phenomenal. Barbara Kingsolver is a master and the characters are incredibly well-developed and lovable. The book is sexy without being the kind of thing you are uncomfortable listening to at the gym. It's inspiring and the bird sounds between the chapter are a delight. If you've never listened to Kingsolver, this is a great introduction and if you've read her other books, you won't be disappointed by this one.

Where is part two!!!!!

Any additional comments?

I love this audio book. I loved the characters in it, especially Nannie and Mr. Walker. The bird sounds in between chapters sounded so real and calming. I was taken by surprise and hated when it ended. I wanted the stories to go on and felt left hanging by the way it ended. I would love to have seen how the characters and their lives evolved. Bring on Book 2!

One of my favorites!!

I can't explain why I love this book so much; maybe it's the excellent writing, or the narrator's delivery, or the storyline that prevents me from turning it off. But I relisten to it every year.

Beautiful story about life, love, and death

Wonderfully spun story about life, love, death, and how we are all connected by nature.