“The friend who holds your hand and says the wrong thing is made of dearer stuff than the one who stays away.”
If you’re looking to explore Barbara Kingsolver’s books in order, or simply want to discover her most powerful and beloved novels, you’ve come to the right place. With a career spanning over thirty years, Kingsolver has become one of the most celebrated authors in America, renowned for her richly layered storytelling, unforgettable characters, and poignant engagement with themes like nature, family, and social justice. From The Poisonwood Bible to Demon Copperhead, her novels continue to captivate audiences across the globe. But, where should you begin? Whether you’re new to her work or revisiting her bibliography, this guide to the best Barbara Kingsolver books comes with a suggested reading order and insights into what makes each novel special. We here at What We Reading will cover her most lauded titles, helping you to decide which Barbara Kingsolver novel you should pick up next!
The Poisonwood Bible (1998)
Kicking off our list of Barbara Kingsolver books is arguably her most successful work to date, The Poisonwood Bible. The story is told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, steadfast, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They bring with them everything they will need from home, but soon find that all of it – from garden seeds to Scripture – is calamitously transformed on African soil.
What follows from there is a timeless and suspenseful epic of one family’s tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in the heartlands of postcolonial Africa. Lush, lyrical, and breathtaking in its prose, The Poisonwood Bible is the perfect introduction for anyone looking to get a taste of Kingsolver’s work.
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Demon Copperhead (2022)
Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead tells the story of a boy born to a teenage single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his deceased father’s good looks, copper-coloured hair, and fierce talent for survival. In a plot that never stops for breath, relayed in his own candid voice, he braves the modern perils of foster care, child labour, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he grapples with his own invisibility in a culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favour of the cities.
Transposing a staple Victorian classic to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Charles Dickens’ anger and compassion in 2022’s Demon Copperhead. It is a story that speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can’t imagine ever leaving behind.
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The Bean Trees (Greer Family #1) (1988)
Clear-eyed and spirited, Taylor Gree grew up poor in rural Kentucky with the goals of avoiding pregnancy and getting away. However, when she sets out west with high hopes and a barely functioning car, she meets the human condition head-on.
By the time Tylor arrives in Tucson, Arizona, she has acquired a completely unexpected child, a three-year-old American Indian girl named Turtle, and must somehow come to terms with both motherhood and the necessity for laying down roots. Hers is a story about love and friendship, abandonment and belonging, and the discovery of surprising resources in apparently empty surroundings.
Prodigal Summer (2000)
From her outpost in an isolated mountain cabin, Deanna Wolfe, a reclusive wildlife biologist, watches a den of coyotes that have recently migrated into the region. She is caught off guard by a young hunter who invades her most intimate spaces and confounds her self-assured, solitary life. On a farm several miles down the mountain, Lusa Maluf Landowksi, a bookish city girl turned farmer’s wife, finds herself suddenly marooned in a strange place where she must declare or lose her attachment to the land that has become her own. And a few more miles down the road, a pair of elderly feuding neighbours tend their respective farms and wrangle about God, pesticides, and the possibilities of a future neither of them imagined.
Over the course of one humid summer, these characters all find their connections to one another and the flora and fauna with whom they share a space. One of the best Barbara Kingsolver books for demonstrating her appreciation for the natural world, Prodigal Summer weaves together three stories of human love against a backdrop of the forested mountains and struggling small farms of southern Appalachia.
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year Of Food Life (2007)
When Barbara Kingsolver and her family swapped suburban Arizona for rural Appalachia, they set out to spend a year eating a locally produced diet, pay close attention to the provenance of all they consume. Concerned about the environmental, social, and physical costs of American food culture, they hoped to recover what Barbara considers the nation’s lost appreciation for farms and the natural processes of food production.
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is a different sort of Barbara Kingsolver book compared to others on our reading list, charting the family’s project as it grows into a farm-to-table restaurant and community development project training young farmers in the art of sustainable food production. The Kingsolver family’s experiences and observations remain just as relevant today as they were a decade ago, standing as one of the best reads for today’s ultra-processed consumer society.
Flight Behavior (2012)
Dellarobia Turnbow is a restless farm wife who gave up her own plans when she accidentally became pregnant at seventeen. Now, after ten years of domestic disharmony on a failing farm, she has settled for permanent disappointment but finds a momentary escape through an obsessive flirtation with a younger man. When she stumbles upon an inexplicable sight, it sparks a raft of explanations from local scientists, religious leaders, and the media. As the community lines up to judge the woman and her miracle, Dellarobia confronts her family, her church, her town, and her larger world, in a flight toward truth that could undo all she has believed up until now.
In Flight Behavior, Barbara Kingsolver takes on one of the most contentious subjects of our time: climate change. With deft and versatile empathy, she dissects the motives that drive denial and belief in a precarious world. Timely and relevant, it remains one of the most impactful Kingsolver novels to read.
Animal Dreams (1990)
“Animals dream about the things they do in the daytime just like people do. If you want dreams, you’ve got to live a sweet life.” So says Loyd Peregrina, a handsome Apache trainman and latter-day philosopher. However, when Codi Noline returns to her hometown, Loyd’s advice seems painfully out of reach.
Codi returns to Grace, Arizona, to confront her past and confront her ailing, distant father. What she finds is a town threatened by a silent environmental catastrophe, some startling clues behind her own identity, and a man whose outlook could upend her entire life. Blending flashbacks, dreams, and Native American legends, Animal Dreams is a suspenseful love story and a poignant exploration of life’s largest commitments.
The Lacuna (2009)
Born in the United States, reared in a series of provisional houses in Mexico, Harrison Shepherd grew up learning about life through the housekeepers who put him to work. One fateful day, mixing plaster for famed painter Diego Rivera, he discovers a passion for Aztec history and meets the exotic, imperious artist Frida Kahlo, who becomes a lifelong friend. When he goes to work for Leon Trotsky, an exiled political leader fighting for his life, Harrison will soon find himself entwined with art and revolution, with howling gossip and a risk of terrible violence.
With the looming threat of the Second World War on the horizon, Shepherd also believes he might remake himself in America’s hopeful image and claim a voice of his own. Through darkening years, political winds continue to toss him between north and south in a plot that turns many times between truth and public perception. A colourful and spirited historical epic, The Lacuna is one of Barbara Kingsolver’s best books, featuring compelling characters, a vivid sense of place, and a clear grasp on how history and public opinion can mould a life.
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Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
