Demon Copperhead

Set in the southern Appalachian mountains, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenage single mother in a trailer, with no assets other than his late father's good looks and copper hair, a caustic wit, and a ferocious talent for survival. Told in his own voice, Demon confronts the modern dangers of foster care, child labor, failing schools, sporting success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing loss. Through it all, he confronts his own invisibility in a popular culture in which even superheroes have abandoned rural towns in favor of cities. Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its harm to the children of his society. Those problems have not yet been resolved in ours. Dickens is not a requirement for readers of this novel, but he was an inspiration. Translating a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver draws on Dickens's anger and compassion and, above all, his faith in the transformative power of a good story.