Who recommended The Poisonwood Bible?

4 people have recommended The Poisonwood Bible in the interviews, articles and reading lists we track, including Oprah Winfrey and Hillary Clinton. Each name links to their full reading list.

Is The Poisonwood Bible worth reading?

4 people we track recommend it. It is best for: graduate student preparing a week-long seminar on postcolonial literature who needs one assignable novel this month; the book’s multiple female narrators and recurring ethical dilemmas give concrete passages to close-read and compare across sessions.; book-club coordinator scheduling a four-week meeting series who wants a single title that yields a new discussion focus each week; alternating perspectives and repeated moral questions supply distinct talking points for weekly meetings.; working parent with predictable 30–60 minute evening reading blocks (e.g., during a child’s bedtime routine or a short vacation) who prefers atmospheric, character-led prose over plot-driven thrillers; the novel rewards chunked reading and slow absorption rather than one-sitting momentum.. It may not suit: You’ll likely put it down when the many narrator switches and long descriptive passages pile up early — if you want relentless forward momentum, this book drags.; Annoying if you prefer plot-driven novels: the emphasis is on interior response and cultural detail, not action or tidy resolutions.; Lose interest if you dislike repeated moral rumination and heavy melancholy — the novel revisits guilt and regret often, which can feel exhausting rather than illuminating..

What books are like The Poisonwood Bible?

Readers of The Poisonwood Bible also turn to The Pillars of the Earth, 11/22/63 and The Tiger's Wife, based on the lists and recommenders these books share.

The Poisonwood Bible: Recommended by 4 People

Name: The Poisonwood Bible
Author: Barbara Kingsolver

The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it from garden seeds to Scripture is calamitously transformed on Afri...