Inspired by Dickens' David Copperfield and having lived as a child in Appalachia, Barbara Kingsolver sadly has more than enough contemporary parallels to draw upon: poverty, addiction, child labor, loneliness, social class antipathy and humankind's continuing need to find someone "other" to blame for their misfortunes. The narrator is Damon Fields, named after a father who died before Damon was born. He lives with his mother, a frequent drug user, in a tired old single wide trailer in the hollers of Lee County, Virginia. When his mother's boyfriend moves in with them, Damon's troubles are multiplied by his step-father's cruelty and abuse and his mother's subservience in the face of his behavior. When Damon's mother overdoses, the 11-year old is thrown into an uncaring and often brutal foster care system where kids are often seen as free labor and a source of money from the state. Damon is frequently hungry, cold/ hot, and exhausted. School is an irrelevance since he often can't attend. The only family that's ever been kind to him are his former neighbors, the Peggotts, and their adopted grandson, Matthew, used to be Damon's best friend. Damon calls him Maggot and is in turn called Demon. Torn away from even that minimal support system by the state, Demon runs away in desperation, seeking his paternal grandmother, who he has never met. She won't let him live with her but offers to help by finding him a good placement. And he goes to live with the coach of the local high school football team and his non-conformist daughter Angus. Life starts to turn around for him as he becomes an excellent football player, bringing him fame and popularity beyond his wildest dreams. And then his knee is injured and his life begins to spiral downward once more.
Booklist offers a glowing review, concluding that Kingsolver "revels in creating wicked and sensitive character variations, dramatic trials-by-fire, and resounding social critiques, all told from Damon's frank and piercing point of view in vibrantly inventive language. Every detail stings or sings as he reflects on nature, Appalachia, family, responsibility, love, and endemic social injustice. Kingsolver's tour de force is a serpentine, hard-striking tale of profound dimension and resonance.Kingsolver's account of the opioid epidemic and its impact on the social fabric of Appalachia [which] is drawn to heartbreaking effect. This is a powerful story, both brilliant in its many social messages regarding foster care, child hunger, and rural struggles, and breathless in its delivery."
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