if summer holds nothing else for you, let it hold this

I have enjoyed Barbara Kingsolver for a few years now, and as if her literary endeavors I had previously encountered weren't enough evidence of her brilliance, The Poisonwood Bible is the case closed. Writing a 540 page historical-fiction novel based in the Congo from five points of view is no small task. Reading such an extensive piece would seem just as daunting if Kingsolver's great ambition wasn't balanced by her craft. Her rhetoric does much more than leave her ambition precariously teetering upon it, however. Her words are fertile soil, where roots spread with purpose, wide and deep, saplings break the surface as their beautiful blossoms unfold.

Blossoms like this:

"If chained is where you have been, your arms will always bear the marks of the shackles. What you have to lose is your own story, your own slant. You'll look at the scars on your arms and see mere ugliness or you'll take great care to look away from them and see nothing. Either way, you have no words for the story of where you came from. We are our injuries as much as we are our successes."

The Poisonwood Bible is just about thick enough to be a soapbox, and deservedly so, sometimes serves as such, but this is also a rich novel of allegory, character, spirituality, heartbreak and self-discovery.

In my research post-read, I found
this interview with Barbara Kingsolver that resounded with me. Even though this is from fourteen years ago (we're still fighting the same battles at home and abroad), she is relevant and powerful.