The first Barbara Kingsolver book I read was The Poisonwood Bible. It was soon after the release. Since then I have been reading as many of her books as I can. She is a storyteller extraordinaire. As I was looking at my 50 States challenge, I realized I didn’t have a book for Arizona, and fell upon The Bean Trees. One of her earlier books, this one focuses on a young woman that leaves the poverty of Kentucky to find her way in the world. She jumps in a car that is broken down, but moving, and heads west. As she goes through Oklahoma, she finds herself on Cherokee land. Here, she is faced with true need, and her fate is handed to her, literally.
As she continues her journey, she witnesses the worst that the world can be to others – especially children – and yet she remains surprised with each revelation. Her car finally gives out in Arizona, and she finds her way through the kindness of strangers. These people become her family, her home, and she comes to terms with the understanding that she was a refugee from Kentucky looking for a better life, just as refugees from other countries come to the US for another chance. Each has their past, but each also looks to the future with hope. The bean trees growing in Maddie’s back yard take root where they are, even though they came from so far away. Just like the people who tend them.
With the immigration issues still as difficult now as when the book was published, the story remains as relevant today as it did in 1988. With this, and Letters from a Woman Homesteader, I can fill in Arizona and Wyoming on my 50 states list under the At Home Travel Log. And I will keep looking for more of Kingsolver’s books. I have never been disappointed.
The Source 4 Books 