Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver –560 pages

Book Blurb:

Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, this is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. In a plot that never pauses for breath, relayed in his own unsparing voice, he braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.

My Review: 5 stars

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Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver is a book for the ages: a social commentary, a lesson in pacing and vernacular, a testament to Appalachian life and a comeback story. May everyone read this book of despair vs. hope and good vs evil and discuss among other readers. It’s that good.

I won’t dare try and compare this Dicken’s David Copperfield as I don’t believe I’ve ever read it. This has been coined as a modern-day version of Copperfield, so if you’ve read them both, I’m curious what you thought.

I wish everyone to go in blind as I did. Just dig in. I dare you not to get sucked into Demon’s story, think what he’s thinking and root for him silently throughout all 560 pages. Kingsolver has moved me with her words in this one. She is nothing short of a master storyteller.

Quotes I liked:

We both lay back down, and she looked at me in the eyes, and we were sad together for a while. I’ll never forget how that felt. Like not being hungry.”

“I wondered if DSS had anything like Step 9, where you eventually have to apologize to all the kids you’ve screwed over.”

“Sophie’s mother had to leave her dad, to get sober. She says as long as you’re living with an addict, you’re addicted.” 

“…a good story doesn’t just copy life, it pushes back on it.”

“People love to believe in danger, as long as it’s you in harm’s way, and them saying bless your heart.”