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Prodigal Summer

By Barbara Kingsolver
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Prodigal Summer weaves together three interconnected stories set in the forested mountains and small farms of southern Appalachia over one humid summer. The novel follows a reclusive wildlife biologist, a young farmer's wife stranded far from home, and two elderly, feuding neighbours. Each faces personal challenges while discovering deep connections to each other and the natural world around them. The book explores themes of biology, ecology, and the vital truth that humans are only one part of Earth's intricate web of life.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$5100

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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Prodigal Summer is ideal for readers who appreciate literary fiction rich in environmental themes and complex characters. Fans of nature writing, rural settings, and thoughtful explorations of human and ecological relationships will find this novel deeply rewarding.

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In a beautiful hymn to wildness, Kingsolver celebrates the prodigal spirit of human nature and of nature itself. Over the course of one humid summer, as the urge to procreate takes over the countryside, the novel's characters find their connections to one another in the forested mountains of southern Appalachia.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

National Bestseller

"A blend of breathtaking artistry, encyclopedic knowledge of the natural world... and ardent commitment to the supremacy of nature." – San Francisco Chronicle

In this beautiful novel, Barbara Kingsolver, acclaimed author of The Poisonwood Bible and the Pulitzer-Prize winning Demon Copperhead, and recipient of the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, weaves together three stories of human love within a larger tapestry of lives inhabiting the forested mountains and struggling small farms of southern Appalachia.

Over the course of one humid summer, as the urge to procreate overtakes the lush countryside, this novel's intriguing protagonists – a reclusive wildlife biologist, a young farmer's wife marooned far from home, and a pair of elderly, feuding neighbors – face disparate predicaments but find connections to one another and to the flora and fauna with whom they necessarily share a place. Their discoveries are embedded inside countless intimate lessons of biology, the realities of small farming, and the final, urgent truth that humans are only one piece of life on earth.

Prodigal Summer is a hymn to wildness that celebrates the prodigal spirit of human nature, and of nature itself.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Critics have praised Prodigal Summer for its lush storytelling, insightful social commentary, and intimate relationship with nature. The Washington Post Book World calls it "a lush, bountiful, opinionated novel of social conscience." The New York Times describes it as "illuminating" and "absorbing," resonating with the author's wisdom and passion. Readers appreciate its tenderness, humour, and earthy spirituality, with the San Francisco Chronicle lauding Kingsolver's artistry and encyclopedic knowledge of the natural world.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780060959036

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 16 October 2001

Country: United States

Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 30.0mm

Width: 132.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 340g

Pages: 464

Collections

Barbara Kingsolver Fiction General Fiction Literary Fiction

About the Author

Barbara Kingsolver is the author of ten bestselling works of fiction, including the novels Unsheltered, The Bean Trees, and The Poisonwood Bible, as well as books of poetry, essays, creative nonfiction, and Coyote's Wild Home, a children's book co-authored with Lily Kingsolver. She also collaborated with family members on the influential Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. Kingsolver's work has been translated into more than thirty languages and has earned a devoted readership at home and abroad. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and has received numerous awards and honors including the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel, Demon Copperhead, the National Humanities Medal, and most recently, the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters and its Lifetime Achievement Award. She lives with her husband on a farm in southern Appalachia.

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