I received a gifted copy of DEMON COPPERHEAD by Barbara Kingsolver from Harper Perennial.
Rating: 4 / 5
DEMON COPPERHEAD follows the titular character throughout his life. Demon (a nickname) is born to a teenage mother and a dead father, a life of poverty in Appalachia. Following Demon throughout his life, through foster care, schooling, athletics, and relationships. The book was inspired by Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield and its themes of institutional poverty and the impact on children raised in it.
I read this book very recently for my snakes cover vlog and was happy to get a copy of the book in the mail shortly after. I have been having a bit of a rough time finding historical fiction I really connect with, but this is an author I know and trust, so decided to give it a go and I am glad that I did!
Barbara Kingsolver’s writing is really strong in this book like I know to expect from her. I thought she did a fantastic time developing Demon across the years. While I haven’t read David Copperfield, and that certainly isn’t a requirement going into this book, the theme of poverty that the synopsis says were pulled for this book, namely poverty, really came through well. Layered onto that we see substance abuse and addiction as another crucial idea and the way that also impacts Demon as a child and throughout his life.
While I felt the pace to be a bit slow and the book to be a bit long for my current reading taste, I think it had a lot of fantastic discussions. It was the type of book that I spent time with and also took breaks from to process what wasn’t always an easy read given the subject matter.
For more thoughts on this book (and other snake-ey reads), check out my vlog here:
DG Reads 