Bean Trees

Description: Barbara Kingsolver's 1988 debut novel is a classic workof American fiction. Now a standard in college literature classes across thenation, and a book that appears in translation across the globe, The BeanTrees is not only a literary masterpiece but a popular triumph anarrativethat readers worldwide have taken into their hearts. The Los Angeles Times calls The Bean Trees the work of a visionary....It leaves you open-mouthed and smiling. "

Brief description:

Barbara Kingsolver is the author of ten bestselling works of fiction, including the novels Unsheltered, The Bean Trees, and The Poisonwood Bible, as well as books of poetry, essays, creative nonfiction, and Coyote's Wild Home, a children's book co-authored with Lily Kingsolver. She also collaborated with family members on the influential Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. Kingsolver's work has been translated into more than thirty languages and has earned a devoted readership at home and abroad. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and has received numerous awards and honors including the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel, Demon Copperhead, the National Humanities Medal, and most recently, the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. She lives with her husband on a farm in southern Appalachia.

Review Quotes:

"The work of a visionary. . . . It leaves you open-mouthed and smiling." - Los Angeles Times

"An astonishing literary debut....For a deep breath of fresh air, spend some time in the neighborhood of The Bean Trees." - Cosmopolitan

"As clear as air. It is the southern novel taken west, its colors as translucent and polished as one of those slices of rose agate from a desert shop." - New York Times Book Review

"Idealistic and exhilerating, The Bean Trees is a book that combines the most careful craft with a moral code that is loving and expansive." - Philadelphia Inquirer

"So wry and wise we wish it would never end....The chatty, down-home audacity of Barbara Kingsolver's remarkable first novel hooks us on the first page." - San Francisco Chronicle

"This funny, inspiring book is a marvelous affirmation of risk-taking, commitment and everyday miracles...An overwhelming delight, as random and unexpected as real life." - Publishers Weekly

"This is the story of a lovable, resourceful 'instant mother, ' one who speaks, acts and learns for herself, becoming an inspiration to us all." - Glamour