Books: THE POISONWOOD BIBLE by Barbara Kingsolver

Title: The Poisonwood Bible
Author: Barbara Kingsolver
Genre: Novel
Published: 1998

The Poisonwood Bible is the story of the Price family, an evangelical Baptist family that moves from America to Belgian Congo in the years preceding independence. It is a tragic story of a family living under a very religious - almost fanatical husband and father, who sole mission is to save the heathen Africans from themselves.


The book is told from the perspectives of the women of the household, all five of them: Orleanna, its matriach who struggles with life in the Congo and who questions daily, the sanity of her family's presence in this difficult world. Although she never stands up to her domineering husband she carries with her a quiet strength as she goes about struggling to keep her family together. Rachel, the eldest daughter is a vacuous, self-obsessed fifteen year old when the family arrives in the Congo.

The author does a fantastic job telling the stories from the different perspectives, event to the point of the language used by every character. Rachel's voice and vocabulary is that of a teenager, although not an entirely smart one - who's still pining for the world she left behind; of high-school, boys and sweet-sixteens. Leah is the eldest of the twins; the one initially besotted with her father, whose devotion to both him and their religion is unquestionable. Initially her devotion to her father never falters, even as that of her mother and siblings gradually begins to; only increasing in fervour the more it is unrequited by her distant father. Adah, the second twin, lends the most intelligent and perceptive voice. She walks with a limp and does not speak - a choice made, not circumstance of birth. She's observant and probably the only character that truly sees the Congo they are living in. Her observations as the silent one are internal and made on the pages of her journal. The last born, Ruth May's story is childlike and innocent in its telling.

Kingsolver's book is brilliant. It was one of those books that was so good I wanted to plough ahead and finish, but at the same would put it down deliberately for a day or two, just so I could savour it longer. It is funny because of the humour used in describing their observations of life in the Congo;  and sad because  it is a very tragic story.
In her foreword the author writes that much of her observations are made from memory - her family lived in the Congo when she was younger - and from books written by other writers about this imposing country. She has managed to put it all together in a truly unforgettable story.

The story is a tragic one though, for it is in the death of one of the characters that the family breaks apart - or is forced to - mainly due to Orleanna' realisation that her family's survival depends on her finally leaving Nathan. A changing Congo that acquires its independence and in the process changes the lives of the white people living in it precipitates the upheaval.
Set in pre- and post-independence Congo, Kingsolver's book moves easily from Kilanga, the village where the Price family lived; to South Africa where Rachel finds herself; to America, where Orleanna returns with Adah when they flee the Congo; and yet remains grounded firmly in the Congo with Leah - where it began for all of them.

With the backdrop of colonial Africa, Kingsolver's book is full of the scents and sounds and the cacophony that invades one's senses when she describes this world. The Africa they live in, that ultimately gets under their skin , never leaves even as they physically remove themselves from the continent.
This is a highly recommended read.