Demon Copperhead

Author: Barbara Kingsolver

Who Picked the Book: Rachel

One-sentence summary: Demon Copperfield tells us about his difficult childhood dealing with everything from abuse to foster care to drugs - and how he found his footing  - with the backdrop of Appalachia and it's unique history and character. 

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 8

Our favorite thing about it: Brilliant writing and engaging story.

Our least favorite thing about it: The first third of the book is very hard to read because it is so depressing.

Main Topics of Discussion: Poverty, Mother/Child relationships, Abuse, Drugs, City/Country

Our favorite quote: "It's hard to explain how you can miss a place and want it with all your heart, and be utterly sure it will obliterate you the instant you touch down."

Notes: Our overall impression of this book was very good. We all enjoyed reading it. However, it was a LONG book and we only had two weeks since our last meeting to read it! That was a challenge and at least one of us felt that it was too long. 

We ALL agreed that the first part of the book - when Demon was a young child - was the hardest part to read. It was so hard to hear about these things happening to a little boy. And the absolute, most infuriating part for us was when his money was stolen at the truck stop. Some of us were ready to be done with the book at that point. Thankfully, it changed shortly after that. We think the first part was so hard to read because he was so young and also because all of that was just happening to him - through no choice of his own. The later parts of the book held very hard things too - but he was a bit older and was making his own choices by then. 

We discussed how Kingsolver is just a brilliant writer. Besides her words and sentences being just beautiful, she shows things through the story that you don't even realize she's telling you. For example, several characters reappear in different phases of Demon's life. Kingsolver is making the point that small towns and country life are all about that - knowing everyone and running into them over and over again. 

Every single character was a masterpiece as well. They all served to fill in the blanks of this life that Demon was wading through. Some were bright spots, and some were black. But they were all so vivid. 

Kingsolver uses the story to make several poignant points about drugs, city vs. country economy, etc. And that story...it was heartbreaking and gripping at the same time. We loved it. 

Memorable Meeting Moments: We celebrated Amberly during this LOVE month! Lindsay was able to join us too!

What We Ate: Cream cheese with spicy jam and crackers, Indian Beef curry with potatoes, Basmati Rice, and Brown Butter Churro White Chocolate Chip Cookies