Prodigal Summer

Prodigal Summer (2000) is the fifth novel by American author Barbara Kingsolver. Drawing heavily on ecological concepts and with her trademark interweaving plots, this novel tells three stories of love, loss and connections in rural Kentucky.

Plot summary

Prodigal Summer tells the story of a small town in Appalachia during a single, humid summer, when three interweaving stories of love, loss and family unfold against the backdrop of the lush wildness of Kentucky mountains. The narrative follows Deanna, a solitary woman working as a park ranger, Lusa, a widowed farmwife at odds with her late husband's tight-knit family, and Garnett, an old man who dreams of restoring the lineage of the extinct American Chestnut tree.

Kingsolver's extensive education in biology is on display in this book, laden with ecological concepts and biological facts. Her writing also exhibits her knowledge of rural Kentucky, where she grew up.^[1]

Notes

1. ^ http://www.kingsolver.com/biography/

See also

• Appalachia

External links

• Prodigal Summer at the author's official site
• New York Times review of Prodigal Summer