You can always find good, even in the darkest times.

Demon Copperhead 

Barbara Kingsolver 

546 pages, Paperback, First published October 18, 2022 

Demon Copperhead is the story of a young man born to a single mum, orphaned at 11 and trying to eke out an existence against all odds.  

I cannot recall the last time I have read a work of fiction that I could have easily mistaken as an autobiography. Damon ‘Demon Copperhead’ Fields is just extraordinary character, so beautifully created and realised on the page. As he retells his life, it is heartbreaking, it is exhilarating, it is depressing, it is hopeful amongst so much despair.   

What completely floored me was the writing and attention to detail. Kingsolver has articulated on the page a world that is alien to many but home for too many. The descriptions of trailers living, drug houses, towns, schools are all so real, I feel I know those places intimately. Kingsolver has created an array of characters that are all so well realised.  There is at least ten characters who revolve around Damon’s world and each one is easily identified on the page.  

Despite the bleakness of the book, it is easy to understand why this book is revered as Kingsolver’s writing is just extraordinary.  

For more on Barbara Kingsolver's work check out their website