Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver
I've been stuck in the house during the 27-below-zero Polar Vortex, so I had a lot of time to read this week. I finished Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver tonight and I'm still not sure exactly what I think about this book.
I'll start by saying that I loved Animal Dreams and Pigs in Heaven by this author. And I loved half of this book. The book is split into 2 parallel stories set in the same house. One is set around 2015, and that plot line features wife/mother/writer Willa. The other is set in the late 1800s and features teacher Thatcher Greenwood. And both find that although they've always tried to do the right thing, they are struggling to ensure their respective families' survival.
Willa is middle-aged and always thought that by this point in her life, she and her husband would have some kind of financial stability. But she lost her full-time job. The college he was teaching at closed, so he had to find a lower-paying job at another school. His elderly (and in poor health) father is living with them and soon both of their grown kids--and one baby--have also returned to the family nest, which is falling apart around their ears. Willa is becoming increasingly desperate trying to hold it all together.
In the alternate story, Thatcher is married to the snooty Rose, whose deceased father built the house (though it is not built on a solid foundation--so even in the 1800s, it is falling down around their ears too). Thatcher teaches science in a school where the principal doesn't believe in Darwin or any other "modern" science. Thatcher is the only source of financial support for Rose, her mother, and her sister. And he knows that his job security is totally at the mercy of the principal, with whom he is always at odds. One day, the family's dogs disappear and he goes off to find them. They turn up at the home of his mysterious neighbor--Mary Treat, an ahead-of-her-time scientist whose husband has left her for another woman. Thatcher realizes he has found a kindred spirit.
In one story, we see the family unit disintegrating, while in the other (almost) everyone works hard to keep the family going. Of the two story lines, I liked Willa's better. While Thatcher and Mary were appealing characters, their section of the book revolved around science and botany and evolution. Willa's part of the book revolved around how to cover the medical bills, pay for groceries, and heat the house--which I guess I could relate to more.
I'd love to know what other readers think about this book.
I'll start by saying that I loved Animal Dreams and Pigs in Heaven by this author. And I loved half of this book. The book is split into 2 parallel stories set in the same house. One is set around 2015, and that plot line features wife/mother/writer Willa. The other is set in the late 1800s and features teacher Thatcher Greenwood. And both find that although they've always tried to do the right thing, they are struggling to ensure their respective families' survival.
Willa is middle-aged and always thought that by this point in her life, she and her husband would have some kind of financial stability. But she lost her full-time job. The college he was teaching at closed, so he had to find a lower-paying job at another school. His elderly (and in poor health) father is living with them and soon both of their grown kids--and one baby--have also returned to the family nest, which is falling apart around their ears. Willa is becoming increasingly desperate trying to hold it all together.
In the alternate story, Thatcher is married to the snooty Rose, whose deceased father built the house (though it is not built on a solid foundation--so even in the 1800s, it is falling down around their ears too). Thatcher teaches science in a school where the principal doesn't believe in Darwin or any other "modern" science. Thatcher is the only source of financial support for Rose, her mother, and her sister. And he knows that his job security is totally at the mercy of the principal, with whom he is always at odds. One day, the family's dogs disappear and he goes off to find them. They turn up at the home of his mysterious neighbor--Mary Treat, an ahead-of-her-time scientist whose husband has left her for another woman. Thatcher realizes he has found a kindred spirit.
In one story, we see the family unit disintegrating, while in the other (almost) everyone works hard to keep the family going. Of the two story lines, I liked Willa's better. While Thatcher and Mary were appealing characters, their section of the book revolved around science and botany and evolution. Willa's part of the book revolved around how to cover the medical bills, pay for groceries, and heat the house--which I guess I could relate to more.
I'd love to know what other readers think about this book.
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