I wish that I had had a group like you to talk about The Poisonwood Bible when I first read it in 2000. I gave it three stars, thought it was too long, and wondered why the Orleanna Price didn't take the first boat home from the Congo when it became clear how ill-prepared the family was and how dangerous the Reverend Nathan Price was. I didn't consider what year it was (1959) and that she really didn't have the means (physical, emotional, or monetary) to escape the depths of the jungle. With my second reading 24 years later, I was better able to appreciate so much more in Kingsolver's writing - how she wrote the book, the way she told the story, which characters she chose to tell their stories, and the many political influences at play.
Kingsolver has said, "Before I wrote The Poisonwood Bible, it haunted my office for a decade in the form of a file cabinet labeled "DAB" – the Damned Africa Book. Into that cabinet, I stuffed notes, clippings, photographs, character sketches, plot ideas, anything that struck me as relevant to the huge novel I wished I could write. I did not believe I would ever be writer enough to do it." She clearly was enough of a writer, and I'm glad that I was finally enough of a reader.
So let's get right to it; here are my questions about the book. Why do you think that Reverend Nathan Price is not given a voice of his own? Do we learn enough information through his wife and daughters to formulate an adequate explanation for his beliefs and behavior? Does such an explanation matter?
I'm very interested in many aspects of this novel, and I'll be glad to share my thoughts about these questions tonight during our Zoom discussion. These questions on our blogs and the Zoom discussion are your chance to express your ideas.