Kingsolver’s latest novel appeared on nearly every Best Books of 2022 list, and for a host of good reasons.
First and foremost, who would dare take on retelling Charles Dickens’ 1850 novel “David Copperfield”—and set it in modern Appalachia?
Who would write a classic Hero’s Journey novel—and take on the opioid crisis, child welfare, public education, poverty and hunger in the process?
Who, but Barbara Kingsolver, whose knowledge of contemporary coal country is firsthand (she was born in Kentucky and now lives in far southwest Virginia), and whose commitment to social justice runs deep (Kingsolver initiated the Bellwether Prize—now the PEN/Bellwether Prize—awarded to a previously unpublished book taking on social justice issues).
It’s hard to talk about this novel without spoiling the plotline. Suffice it to say that you’ll see Demon fall repeatedly into horrific foster-care homes, attend school only sporadically and lose just about everything before rescuing himself with a lot of help from a large cast of friends.
It’s not only the plot that traces that of “David Copperfield.” Kingsolver has cleverly chosen character names that echo Dickens’ characters: Peggotty becomes Mrs. Peggot; Dora becomes Dori; and the unforgettable Uriah Heep takes on the name U-Haul.
But know that reading “Demon Copperhead” will be much more than an exercise in tracing Kingsolver’s clever remake of Dickens’ novel. You will—I promise—fall in love with Demon, and he will make you laugh as well as cry, sometimes both at once.
When you close this novel, you won’t forget Demon Copperhead … or the social tightrope he walks that, for many of us, is all too easy to ignore.
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. HarperCollins Publishers, 2022. 548 pp.
The story above first appeared in our May / June 2023 issue.
