I'm a huge fan of Charles Dickens. He is arguably the greatest novelist of his time. He was a
master at creating characters who came alive. They seemed so real that they could have been a neighbor or you wanted them to be your neighbor. Dickens' characters understood what readers needed and helped them learn from their experiences in his novels. He understood the human psyche to a tee and wrote about abandonment, poverty and social injustice with a mixture of humor and emotion that was exceptional. He could also paint a scene with words as wonderful as a Monet painting. When I read book reviews--and see the word Dickensian--I immediately read the book and those are the authors who become my favorite writers. When I heard that Barbara Kingsolver's new book was a modern adaptation of David Copperfield, I knew I had to read it. Kingsolver is also an incredible writer so I knew I could count on her to do Dickens justice in Demon Copperhead. Damen Fields a.k.a. Demon Copperhead, the narrator of this novel, is born to a teenage mother and lives in a single wide trailer in the mountains of Southern Appalachia. Early on he becomes an orphan and is shuffled through the DDS system where he spends time in several foster homes. This is a story of resilience and survival as Demon lives in poverty then struggles with success, addiction, misunderstood love, and loss. It's also about our society, that's structured to keep the poor living in poverty. It seem that everytime Demon takes a step forward, he takes 3 steps back. He story is at times heartbreaking, but Demon also finds the humor in his situation as he is wise beyond his years. He's is a character every reader will love and root for because of his unfortunate situation. It was a page turner for me because I was invested in the characters and wanted to know how they would turn out in the end. This book is a bit of a commitment at 560 pages, but it's well worth the effort as the characters and their plights will stay with you for a long time. Enjoy
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