Book 8 (2011): The Bean Trees

I've tried to tell people about this book, The Bean Trees, several times and it seems that no matter what I say, it sounds dumb. It wasn't a dumb book at all. I thought it was fun, sensitive, creative, and just an overall great read.

Taylor spent most of her teenage years growing up in small town Kentucky trying to not get pregnant. She doesn't and then soon after graduation she takes off for an adventure. she decides to just drive west, in her falling apart car.

Taylor is smart, a little naive, and a tiny bit backward, but she's blunt and too the point, and is totally no nonsense type of person. While having a dinner break on her drive, somewhere in the middle of Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma a woman gives her a baby, just hands her over. For some reason she keeps the baby and calls her Turtle.

Taylor and Turtle continue on and the car finally breaks down in New Mexico. They meet a whole cast of characters and start a new life.

I think this is a great story. Yes, there are some unbelievable moments, but it has great flow and it is a smart and interesting story, a little different. Nothing wrong with different.

I like Kingsolver's writing style and I'm working on the sequel to this one, Pigs in Heaven, and then I want to read a non Turtle/ Taylor book by Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible.


B+
(pgs. 232)