Having abandoned her dreams when she unintentionally became impregnated at seventeen years old, Dellarobia Turnbow is continuously restless in her life of domesticity on a failing farm.
Now, all that banal living may become much more exciting than what Dellarobia is ready for when she suddenly stumbles upon a scene that shocks her: a wooded valley full of what appears to be a fiery lake.
Her mind cannot grasp this phenomenon outside of a cautionary miracle, but soon she is flooded by a host of explanations from the media, scientists, and religious leaders.
As her community besets her in judgment, Dellarobia must confront her beliefs, and the people of the world, to find the truth.
With dexterity and empathy, author Kingsolver dissects one of the most contentious subjects of our time: climate change and the beliefs and denials that perpetuate its conflict.
Barbara Kingsolver was born in 1955 and was raised in both Kentucky and the former Republic of Congo. She was a freelance writer before becoming a novelist. Her work is well known for advocating social change, and it covers topics such as biodiversity, social justice, and the landscape of human and environmental interaction. Her degrees are in ecology and evolutionary biology, which inspired her science writing career. Shortly after winning a story contest in a local paper, she began to write more fiction. Her novel The Poisonwood Bible was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize, and each of her novels since 1993 has been on the New York Times best seller list.
"I thoroughly enjoyed this book, even if it was a bit heavy on the ecology lessons. I found the characters as compelling as Kingsolver characters always are and would like to have gotten to know some of them better. Had the author devoted more time to that as opposed to the science lessons I would have rated this one 5 stars instead."
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Bxrlover (4 out of 5 stars)