Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver

I was finding 1993 quite difficult to fill in my century of books, and I asked people on Twitter which of my 1993 books they’d recommend that I pick up. It turned out that I didn’t have one of them on my shelves any longer, a biography of Elizabeth Gaskell, but I did have Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver. For some reason I wasn’t especially keen to read it, but enough people on Twitter convinced me that I should give it a go that I took it away on holiday and, guess what – it’s amazing.

This isn’t the first Kingsolver novel I’ve read, in fact it’s the third. One of those is her most famous, The Poisonwood Bible, which I actually didn’t like as much as most people seem to have done. I suppose my problem was with her painting this ogreish portrait of the patriarchal missionary, and then implying (or at least I inferred) that he was intended to represent the whole world of missionaries. It felt a little lazy. But before that I read The Bean Trees, I think before I started blogging, and it turns out that Pigs in Heaven is a sequel to that. I should say from the outset that it’s fine to read this novel independently, and in fact I couldn’t remember very much about The Bean Trees that except for the fact that I liked it. Pigs in Heaven tells you everything you need to know about what came before.

The main thing you need to know from that novel is that Taylor adopted young Native American girl called Turtle, given to her by a stranger in a car park. The years have passed, and Taylor is a devoted mother, unable to imagine a life without her young daughter. She is also in a relationship with a musician-of-sorts, called Jax. I rather loved reading their conversations, which were believably affectionate while maintaining a constant undercurrent of uncertainty – just how much are they joking and how much are real tensions coming to the surface? It is something dramatic that starts to change the life Taylor has made for herself, even though that dramatic thing happens to somebody else. While on a road trip to the Grand Canyon, her daughter sees a man fall into a dangerously deep cave – being so young, Turtle doesn’t realise the gravity of this until afterwards, and assumes her mother knows what has happened and is unconcerned. It is only when bringing its to Taylor’s attention that a rescue mission is mounted – despite police initially being reluctant to believe that the 4 year old has not imagined the whole thing.

The man is rescued, and Turtle becomes something of a celebrity – at least temporarily – and is invited onto an episode of Oprah for children who have saved lives. This catches the attention of a lawyer, Annawake, who decides to intervene. She is from the Cherokee Nation herself, and knows that the adoption which Taylor describes is not legal. With her own history of a brother who was taken away from family and community, Annawake sees it as her responsibility to reunite Turtle with her heritage – even if that means taking her away from her mother. (The pigs in Heaven, incidentally, are stars – a constellation you may know as the Seven Sisters.)

There are plenty of novelists who use a moral quandary as the centre of a narrative, to greater or lesser levels of success. To be honest, I am likely to run from a novel that describes itself as issue-driven – and the great thing about Kingsolver is that it never feels as though the ‘issue’  is the driving force. Nor is there any sense that there is a correct answer – as a white person myself, I am very likely to be drawn towards the argument that a child should not be separated from her adoptive mother, but Kingsolver has characters like Annawake who can vocalise that this sense of priorities is not any more objective than those which might make somebody wants to reunite a child with her ancestral community. And so what drives this novel, perfectly, is character.

Unlike The Poisonwood Bible, there are no cartoonish villains. There are simply people who are trying to do the right thing – or, with some of the more incidental characters, have lost any sense of what the right thing might be.

Women on their own run in Alice’s family. This dawns on her with the unkindness of a heart attack and she sits up in bed to get a closer look at her thoughts, which have collected above her in the dark.

That is the opening paragraph of this multi-generational novel. Alice is Taylor’s mother, and has recently made her own possibly ill-advised marriage. The family do not have the ingrained traditions of the Cherokee Nation, but they have their own localised one of women being alone – though none of the women in this book are alone as it starts, it hangs over them like a threat, or occasionally like a happy promise. Taylor’s fear of losing Turtle means they go on the run together, and Kingsolver masterfully weaves a road trip novel into this multifaceted narrative – with the possibilities that brings for funny or strange or poignant temporary characters.

As I say, it is character that is foremost – with their reflections on anything from their choice of words to their ultimate fate. Kingsolver uses her premise to give us a rich, rich portrait of many different people – even when they’re not the most pleasant people, she makes us want to spend time with them. It is riveting, as well as beautifully written. It is also evocative, not just of place but of being. I suppose what I mean by that is that it is wholly immersive.

I read a lot of books, as do we all, and it’s not often that I miss the world that I have been in once it is finished. But I wish I were back in Kingsolver’s world – and I think I might be left in the curious position of wanting to reread the original to this sequel, just to stay in that world. Hopefully that won’t leave me in an indefinite loop, but if it does, there are worse places to be. (And, to escape that loop, which Kingsolver novels would you recommend?)

18 thoughts on “Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver

  • November 19, 2018 at 7:04 am
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    I’ve only ready The Poisonwood Bible, so I’m no help. I have a copy of Prodigal Summer and will come back to see what other commenters might suggest! I too would like to read more Kingsolver.

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  • November 19, 2018 at 8:22 am
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    I loved Flight Behavior and Prodigal Summer.

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  • November 19, 2018 at 4:19 pm
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    Prodigal Summer is wonderful, as is Animal, Vegetable, Miracle…..a non-fiction book.

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  • November 19, 2018 at 6:25 pm
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    I read Poisonwood long ago then I heard Kingsolver interviewed recently and was struck by her intelligence, compassion and warmth. She talked about the underlying influence of science on her writing career – an unusual combination so I decided to read further. About 2 months ago I got The Bean Trees and liked it very much, then Prodigal Summer which I liked even more. I didn’t realize there was a sequel until I read your post; now I must find a copy. Looking forward to her new one – Unsheltered.

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  • November 19, 2018 at 9:06 pm
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    Such a long time since I read this book and I loved it too. It really loved it. This relationship between Taylor and Turtle is wonderful. Prodigal Summer is also absolutely beautiful. I am very behind in my Kingsolver reading and still have The Lacuna and Flight Behaviour tbr, and Unsheltered is high on my tbr. You have reminded me what a wonderful writer Barbara Kingsolver is.

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    • November 22, 2018 at 4:41 pm
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      So much to catch up on! I do wish some of hers weren’t QUITE so long…

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  • November 19, 2018 at 9:58 pm
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    I felt that way, too, about both of Kingsolver’s books about this family. Some of her other books are great, but I loved those two. Another good one is The Lacuna, which hasn’t had as much attention as The Poisonwood Bible.

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    • November 22, 2018 at 4:40 pm
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      I used to own it and I culled it, unread! Doh!

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    • November 22, 2018 at 4:39 pm
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      Definitely on the list! I do wish she wrote slightly shorter books, though…

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  • November 21, 2018 at 10:08 am
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    I’ve never read her at all but you’ve made me long to read this book.

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    • November 22, 2018 at 4:30 pm
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      She is so up your street, Harriet.

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  • November 22, 2018 at 1:06 am
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    I read The Bean Trees ages ago and loved it, but then The Poisonwood Bible turned me off Kingsolver for pretty much the same reason you identify. I did read Animal Vegetable Mineral and had mixed feelings–great writing, but an off-putting a sense of superiority that flared up at times. I should read this, though, since I liked The Bean Trees so much.

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    • November 22, 2018 at 4:29 pm
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      It sounds like we’re following exactly the same path, and you should definitely try this one, Teresa!

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  • November 22, 2018 at 5:07 pm
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    Yes, reread The Bean Trees, because it will fill in some spaces from Pigs in Heaven. Next, read Animal Dreams, which has much the same atmosphere as The Bean Trees, and likeable people and personal & social struggles.

    Then read all the rest. Including essays.

    Barbara Kingsolver is my go-to author, over and over again.And, oh joy! her newest, Unsheltered, is out now. I just checked at my library, where I’ve had it on hold for several months, and it is even now IN TRANSIT to my branch.

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  • November 23, 2018 at 11:06 pm
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    I’m so surprised, but pleased, that you enjoyed this one, as I remember that you were not a fan of The Poisonwood Bible, which is one of my favourites (as much for the technique – the fact that she wrote the entire novel from each one of the perspectives but then reassembled it as it stands – as the themes and characters). But it is sweet-natured and lovely and I echo Susan D’s suggestions, only adding that the collection of essays High Tide in Tucson has a lovely piece about her relationship to the library, which I’ve reread many times (although the other essays are very good too). The length of the others has never been an issue for me – they feel like they read faster than they should – but, then, YYMV, given our different responses to TPB, which is definitely one of the longer ones. Good luck with the next!

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  • November 29, 2018 at 4:14 pm
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    The entry on my century of books list is “Montana, 1948” by Larry Watson.

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  • December 7, 2018 at 8:32 am
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    I wasn’t sure of Poisonwood Bible because of the Africa theme but did enjoy it. Flight Behaviour and Prodigal Summer are amazing, Unsheltered is brilliant and I have avoided The Lacuna because it’s about real people. I did love Animal Vegetable Mineral even though I had to wait to read it until I had new glasses as the print was small. Anyway, a lot of Kingsolver love in here and a reminder to go and revisit her earlier novels.

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