Kingsolver is a fantastic writer. This is the only novel of hers I've read, but the ability to turn a sentence is pretty amazing. The characters are great and the story also.

I think folks reading this in 2022 would have accused it of being "heavy-handed" and of being a fictional version of "let's interview Trump supporters at the local diner." Maybe that's a fair critique, maybe it's not. But I think reading it in 2025 is a whole different experience, at least for me. The political situation requires that voices like those of Damon Fields can't really be written off. Then again, Damon is kinda too good to be true.

I haven't read David Copperfield, which inspired this book. Might need to turn to that next.