Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver

 

Synopsis:

A timely novel that interweaves past and present to explore the human capacity for resiliency and compassion in times of great upheaval.

Willa Knox has always prided herself on being the embodiment of responsibility for her family. Which is why it’s so unnerving that she’s arrived at middle age with nothing to show for her hard work and dedication but a stack of unpaid bills and an inherited brick home in Vineland, New Jersey, that is literally falling apart. The magazine where she worked has folded, and the college where her husband had tenure has closed. The dilapidated house is also home to her ailing and cantankerous Greek father-in-law and her two grown children: her stubborn, free-spirited daughter, Tig, and her dutiful debt-ridden, ivy educated son, Zeke, who has arrived with his unplanned baby in the wake of a life-shattering development.

In an act of desperation, Willa begins to investigate the history of her home, hoping that the local historical preservation society might take an interest and provide funding for its direly needed repairs. Through her research into Vineland’s past and its creation as a Utopian community, she discovers a kindred spirit from the 1880s, Thatcher Greenwood.

A science teacher with a lifelong passion for honest investigation, Thatcher finds himself under siege in his community for telling the truth: his employer forbids him to speak of the exciting new theory recently published by Charles Darwin. Thatcher’s friendships with a brilliant woman scientist and a renegade newspaper editor draw him into a vendetta with the town’s most powerful men. At home, his new wife and status-conscious mother-in-law bristle at the risk of scandal, and dismiss his financial worries and the news that their elegant house is structurally unsound.

Unsheltered is the story of two families, in two centuries, who live at the corner of Sixth and Plum, as they navigate the challenges of surviving a world in the throes of major cultural shifts. In this mesmerizing story told in alternating chapters, Willa and Thatcher come to realize that though the future is uncertain, even unnerving, shelter can be found in the bonds of kindred—whether family or friends—and in the strength of the human spirit. ( Goodreads )

Don't compare this to Poisonwood Bible. It's like comparing the apples with bread. While Poisonwood Bible is a sublime novel, and it does make Unsheltered feel less substantial and even a bit shallow, Unsheltered is a good novel in its own way. 

If this one had been written by someone other than Barbara Kingsolver, reviews probably would've been different, slightly better, but one can't help to compare this to other work. Certain authors enable certain expectations.

That said, I did enjoy this novel. It's set in our time, during the Trump legislation, which is delved into on more than one occasion (to the end getting a bit on my nerves, since I'm from Europe and we didn't elect that madman). 

More importantly, the theme of this novel got under my skin. The notion of slowly and surely building a future for yourself and your family, only for it to be swiped away without any notice is actually one of my recurrent nightmares. SO I definitely could relate with Willa's panic attacks. But it's more than only the loss of things, because in the heart of the novel it's actually about reconnecting with family and friends. The clash between the materialistic and emotional connections is fought on these pages. 

Not a novel for everyone, but if you're an avid reader as myself I think you'd find a merit or two in the depths of this story.

The Poisonwood Bible

Tata Jesus is bangala! 

Yes, indeed, he is.
The Poisonwood Bible was a extraordinary journey through a country I have come to know and love. Depicting the story of a missionary family set out to baptize the children of the Congo, they each fail in their unique way to touch what makes that place so agonizingly memorable.

As one of the scars of my forebears I seem to have leeched onto this African region for all its worth, trying to figure out how life must have been in the turmoil of Western Capitalism. Be it non-fiction, or romanticized gothic literature or in this case the emotional upheaval of 5 women being brought to this nation against their will.

The story is told from five different perspectives, those of Reverend Nathaniel's wife and his 4 daughters. Each one of them has a specific way in which to describe their situation, ranging from despair, a boyish sense of adventure, a scientific approach and lethargy.

Orleanna, the Reverend's wife, the one we hear the less, but somehow her words pack the most punch. Quite an enigma at first, as her daughters don't seem to respect her much, but still protect her from their fathers wrath, she changes into a powerful, yet guilt ridden woman. She only speaks at the beginning of each chapters, carefully mapping this book with the many tendrils of the Congo.

Rachel Price, the eldest daughter and the most vain. She's the one that never grows up and holds onto the American Way of Life she knows and loves. With not having a kindred spirit among the red-dust-dwellers, she spits out her hate and contempt for the godforsaken land her father brought her to. Growing up she stubbornly holds onto the American Ideal and makes a life for herself in just such a way, proving herself to be quite a business woman.

Leah Price, half of a twin, a tomboy who idolizes her father until she sees her surroundings for what they are. Mostly because she sees that her father isn't providing the safety the other less civilized families are having, she turns away from him, into the arms of a gentle Congolese man, Anatole.

Adah Price, the other half of the twin, born with half a brain, she's the most resigned of them all. Emotionally cut off, fleeing a world where she is seen as less than anyone else, her reveries mainly take place inside her own head. She makes up a world where logic is insane and the queer rule. Her handicap puts her in a peculiar situation traversing the flood-swept plains of Kingala, where people more hurt still fight day to day to provide for themselves and their family. She learns to be whole again, but loses a significant part of herself by doing so.

Lastly, Ruth May Price, the youngest who has her say. She doesn't see the hardships, doesn't comprehend the sorrow and the loss of everything dear to her mother and sisters. As young children do, she make do with what she has and creates her own perfect childhood on the footsteps of disaster.

Congolese history reveals itself in these stories, in a way you don't realize they have never lived and known the hardships of living in the Congo. Spread over many years, it tells a story of bravery, ignorance, hardships, bad luck, but most of all willpower, a human perseverance where sanity has already left.