Review: Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; Reprint. edition (October 16, 2001)
• ISBN-10: 0060959037
• Source: Publisher

Described as “a hymn to wilderness that celebrates the prodigal spirit of human nature, and of nature itself,” Prodigal Summer details the story of three individuals: Deanna Wolfe, who lives in an isolated cabin and works for the forest service; Lusa Landowski, a city girl & bug expert; and Garnett Walker, an eighty year old man with an obsession with the chestnut tree.

It isn’t until nearly halfway through the book that the relationship between the three characters is revealed. The setting is the lush forest of Appalachia, and while the three characters never meet directly, their experiences are shared by the common setting.

Kingsolver does an outstanding job of describing nature, so detailed and poetic.  After reading this book, I guarantee you will look at, and understand, nature in a completely different manner.  This is not a book you rush through, but one you savor.  While I enjoyed this book tremendously, I wouldn’t recommend this book to just anyone.  Anyone with an appreciation of nature, of detailed and descriptive writing, would appreciate this book.

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for providing me this opportunity to review this book!