Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Faber & Faber (2018), Edition: Main, 480 pages
Description
How could two hardworking people do everything right in life, a woman asks, and end up destitute? Willa Knox and her husband followed all the rules as responsible parents and professionals, and have nothing to show for it but debts and an inherited brick house that is falling apart. The magazine where Willa worked has folded; the college where her husband had tenure has closed. Their dubious shelter is also the only option for a disabled father-in-law and an exasperating, free-spirited daughter. When the family's one success story, an Ivy-educated son, is uprooted by tragedy he seems likely to join them, with dark complications of his own. In another time, a troubled husband and public servant asks, How can a man tell the truth, and be reviled for it? A science teacher with a passion for honest investigation, Thatcher Greenwood finds himself under siege: his employer forbids him to speak of the exciting work just published by Charles Darwin. His young bride and social-climbing mother-in-law bristle at the risk of scandal, and dismiss his worries that their elegant house is unsound. In a village ostensibly founded as a benevolent Utopia, Thatcher wants only to honor his duties, but his friendships with a woman scientist and a renegade newspaper editor threaten to draw him into a vendetta with the town's powerful men. Unsheltered is the compulsively readable story of two families, in two centuries, who live at the corner of Sixth and Plum in Vineland, New Jersey, navigating what seems to be the end of the world as they know it. With history as their tantalizing canvas, these characters paint a startlingly relevant portrait of life in precarious times when the foundations of the past have failed to prepare us for the future.--… (more)
Media reviews
Library Journal
Multi-award-winning Kingsolver's eighth novel (after Flight Behavior) tells two stories in alternating chapters, both taking place on the same residential lot in Vineland, NJ, but roughly 150 years apart. In the 1870s, science teacher Thatcher struggles with meeting the expectations of his socially
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ambitious wife while running afoul of school and city morality for teaching Darwinism and develops a connection with his next-door neighbor, naturalist Mary Treat. In the present day, journalist Willa tries to hold her family together, four generations of which are living in a house that is literally falling down around them, as they struggle with medical bills, tragedy, and long-buried conflict. In the historical story (Thatcher and his family are fictional, but other characters and plot elements are based on real people and events), Kingsolver finds parallels to our current political climate without being heavy-handed, conveying the frustration and despair of members of the professional middle class, who "did all the right things" but feel they are losing ground. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member libraryhead
BK is one of my favorites, but this was a little disappointing. Agree fully with njinthesun and jeane below. Willa and her sexy husband were unsympathetic. Are we GenXers really that self-absorbed? Is waiting for the toxic generation to die really our only hope? I would have preferred Tig's POV on
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the whole thing. The 1880s plot was more engaging but abandoned many of its themes and wrapped up too hurriedly in the end. Show Less
LibraryThing member LDVoorberg
It was really challenging to get through the first half of this book. Everything that could go wrong seemed to be doing so, and I didn't need to read another hopeless book! The characters just seemed like mouth pieces for Kingsolver's opinions about the state of the world, and I did not need to
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read more of that (even though I share many of her opinions). There didn't seem to be much "new" in this book, either: more mother/daughter conflict and characters with strange names (think Pigs in Heaven). Why Willa can't just humour her father-in-law's bigoted opinions in the final days of his life I don't get. The man is clearly dying and she's still getting upset and arguing with him. Why?! It's obviously a fool's errand to argue with him and it's nothing she's not heard before. That his diatribes still hold weight to antagonize her is mystifying. Thatcher Greenwood's testimony in the trial was unconvincing and lame (not very court room or scientific, either) when a real argument could have been made. That story line unravelled a bit for me near the end. But Willa's family, namely Tig, finally grow on me when they turn a corner of their hopeless outlook. What redeems the book from so much of its blatant sermonizing, to me, is Tig's perspective on why "The Bullhorn" has such political success. The town's fear of Darwin's teaching is the one somewhat subtle juxtaposition and revelation in the book. People hold tightly to the American Dream and capitalism because that's all they know, and the Bullhorn upholds that reality for them, even if it is with a smokescreen. My own life-stress comes from not having that capitalist life, and the book helped me see that more and more of us will have to find other ways of living and seeing. The book gifted me that hope. Show Less
LibraryThing member nivramkoorb
I have read every novel that Barbara Kingsolver has written along with some of her non-fiction. She is one of my favorite authors so I am predisposed to view her books in a favorable light even before I read them. She also tackles big social issues about the environment, colonialism, current
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economic inequities, and the unfairness of the current unequal order of the USA in 2018. Because I share her progressive bent, I felt that this book might be the best book that I read in 2018. Kingsolver uses parallel stories that alternate chapters. One deals with an extended family living in Vineland, New Jersey during the time of the 2016 election campaign. The other story also takes place in Vineland but in 1875. The key character in 2016 is Willa Knox who is living in a house that she inherited that is basically falling apart. She is an unemployed freelance writer, her husband an underpaid college professor, along with their daughter Tig who is 26 and just returned from a year in Cuba, their son Zeke who is very educated but due to tragedy is forced to be unemployed and raising a newborn child on his own. Throw in a sick, dying racist father in law and you have a full kettle of every part of the political spectrum. Willa feels like she played by the rules but in their 50's she and her husband are on a downward trajectory. Kingsolver makes sure her view point on all issues is quite clear. I find it interesting that some reviewers consider her too preachy but are you preaching when you state your observations and viewpoints? Hey, it's her novel. As Willa tries to see if her house can receive funding as a historic home she researches Mary Treat a real historical person who was connected to Charles Darwin. We see Mary and Thatcher Greenwood a science teacher in Vineland who is also living in a house in shambles on the same plot of that Willa lives on in 2016. Mary and Thatcher are fighting the status quo and negative reaction to Darwins findings that are upsetting the world order in 1875. Kingsolver does a great job of weaving the 2 stories. The writing is excellent and at 450 pages it was just the right length. There is lots to digest in this book but I strongly recommend this book unless you are a right leaning person that still believes that evolution is a hoax and that climate change is not influenced by our pumping carbon into the atmosphere. Show Less
LibraryThing member EBT1002
I loved this novel. I know some have found it a bit preachy (and one early conversation between Willa and Iano does go too far down this road) but I thoroughly enjoyed this allegorical tale of two families connected by one house and one community, both facing ruin as they try to adjust to a
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worldview that is changing beyond recognition. The parallel between evolutionary theory's upending of divine creationism and climate change as it portends the earth's future is brilliantly rendered. Kingsolver explores, compassionately and frankly, the frantic grip humans will hold to what is known, what is familiar, what has seemed irrefutable. Along with these larger themes, she deftly illuminates generational dynamics as they play out in families as well as communities. I have been a fan of Barbara Kingsolver since I picked up a copy of The Bean Trees at a Chicago bookstore, when she was an unknown author and the bookstore staff were recommending this "promising debut." Unsheltered finds its way to my list of beloved Kingsolver works. Show Less
LibraryThing member juniperSun
This is the perfect book for me: part historic woman botanist, part modern woman trying to care for her family while bereft of a sheltering home. I am glad to learn of Mary Treat, and hope to read some of her own writings.
Kingsolver compares the fears and insecurity experienced in the late 1800's,
There is a lot to think about, also, on how we raise our children, and how siblings can turn out so different from what their parents expected. I am so proud of Tig who looks clear-eyed at the future and works to bring the change, just as I am proud of the Water Warriors in this world.
I enjoyed how the closing words to a chapter in one century is reflected in the succeeding chapter in the other century. However, Nick, the Greek father-in-law, was a bit over the top for me. As far as I'm concerned, his only real role was to enable Kingsolver to refer to a recent president without naming him (other than Bullhorn).
Kingsolver compares the fears and insecurity experienced in the late 1800's,
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when Darwin's publication on evolution overturned the accepted biblical story of creation and man's place as ruler of all, with the fears and insecurity experienced in our times as we realize we are running out of resources and despoiling our planet. Both times there are nay sayers. Both times those in power use religion to back their position. Both times there is oppression of the workers and common people. Both times the elite are so focused on material acquisition.There is a lot to think about, also, on how we raise our children, and how siblings can turn out so different from what their parents expected. I am so proud of Tig who looks clear-eyed at the future and works to bring the change, just as I am proud of the Water Warriors in this world.
I enjoyed how the closing words to a chapter in one century is reflected in the succeeding chapter in the other century. However, Nick, the Greek father-in-law, was a bit over the top for me. As far as I'm concerned, his only real role was to enable Kingsolver to refer to a recent president without naming him (other than Bullhorn).
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LibraryThing member LyndaInOregon
Kingsolver moves between two sets of protagonists in this thoughtful novel, and at first the reader thinks the connection (and the book’s title) refer to the falling-down home they occupy, separated by 140 years.
Willa Knox is caught in an inherited money-pit of a house and sandwiched between the
Thatcher Greenwood, likewise, is saddled by a disintegrating home and a disintegrating personal life. His livelihood is challenged by his insistence on teaching scientific method (including Darwin’s theories) at a school controlled by fundamentalist biblical literalists. His beautiful young wife is slowly drawing away from him, and his deepening friendship with the prominent woman biologist who lives next door, isn’t helping things any.
So far, this sounds like the set-up for any number of domestic dramas. But Kingsolver, as always, wants to dig deeper. As Willa finds herself trying to comprehend the astonishingly successful presidential campaign of a bigoted, bombastic, bully (who is unnamed but instantly identifiable), defended and championed at top volume by her father-in-law, Thatcher tries to shine the light of scientific research into cupboards locked tight in the belly of Noah’s Ark. Eventually, we realize that both are dealing with groups of people whose worlds are being threatened. They were “[b]orn under the moon of paradigm shift, [and] got to be present to a world turning over on itself.”
Both the blue-collar worker of the early 21st century and the power brokers of the mid-19th century are fighting for their existence. The contemporary working man sees the American Dream moving farther and farther out of his grasp, and looks for salvation from pie-in-the-sky promises that no one is going to cut in line in front of them. The worldview of the mid-19th century social arbiters is being overturned and their God-given supremacy challenged. And bystanders Willa and Thatcher are in danger of being “unsheltered” as the truths in which they have always believed begin to crumble under the paroxysms of that world shift.
Kingsolver manages to bring things to a hopeful ending, if not a particularly happy one, and her characters emerge from their challenges changed but not defeated.
Willa Knox is caught in an inherited money-pit of a house and sandwiched between the
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needs of her disabled father-in-law and her suddenly-unemployed adult son, who is traumatized by the unexpected death of his partner and utterly unprepared to deal with their newborn son. Her college professor husband is underemployed but perfectly happy; it is Willa who has to try to figure out how to keep it all together when her own job in journalism has disappeared.Thatcher Greenwood, likewise, is saddled by a disintegrating home and a disintegrating personal life. His livelihood is challenged by his insistence on teaching scientific method (including Darwin’s theories) at a school controlled by fundamentalist biblical literalists. His beautiful young wife is slowly drawing away from him, and his deepening friendship with the prominent woman biologist who lives next door, isn’t helping things any.
So far, this sounds like the set-up for any number of domestic dramas. But Kingsolver, as always, wants to dig deeper. As Willa finds herself trying to comprehend the astonishingly successful presidential campaign of a bigoted, bombastic, bully (who is unnamed but instantly identifiable), defended and championed at top volume by her father-in-law, Thatcher tries to shine the light of scientific research into cupboards locked tight in the belly of Noah’s Ark. Eventually, we realize that both are dealing with groups of people whose worlds are being threatened. They were “[b]orn under the moon of paradigm shift, [and] got to be present to a world turning over on itself.”
Both the blue-collar worker of the early 21st century and the power brokers of the mid-19th century are fighting for their existence. The contemporary working man sees the American Dream moving farther and farther out of his grasp, and looks for salvation from pie-in-the-sky promises that no one is going to cut in line in front of them. The worldview of the mid-19th century social arbiters is being overturned and their God-given supremacy challenged. And bystanders Willa and Thatcher are in danger of being “unsheltered” as the truths in which they have always believed begin to crumble under the paroxysms of that world shift.
Kingsolver manages to bring things to a hopeful ending, if not a particularly happy one, and her characters emerge from their challenges changed but not defeated.
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LibraryThing member BibliophageOnCoffee
Preachy, heavy-handed, and overlong. Where was the editor? Everyone in it was just a caricature: racist old (republican) man, selfish millennial, woke millennial, happy-go-lucky/oblivious dad, ahead of her time female scientist, and on and on and on. I only finished this because I'm responsible for
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leading my book group's discussion about it. I'm just so sorry that I inflicted this novel on everyone else. Hopefully some people enjoyed it more than I did. The historical fiction chapters were actually interesting, but the modern day chapters really just ruined it for me. I also hated how the last sentence of every chapter would then turn into the title of the next chapter. Ugh. Kingsolver just tried way too hard to be clever in this novel and it did not work. Show Less
LibraryThing member jmoncton
Like many others, I've always enjoyed Barbara Kingsolver's novels. The Bean Trees, Animal Dreams, Flight Behavior, and of course The Poisonwood Bible have all been favorites of mine. But Unsheltered is part novel, part lecture about the evils of capitalism, our materialistic society, and lack of a
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secure future for so many hardworking people in our country. And the odd thing is that with me, Kingsolver is preaching to the choir. Politically, I agree with almost all of her points. But, if I'm reading a novel, I don't want a character to insert in the conversation a bullet point list of the evils of capitalism. I enjoyed parts of this, but there were huge sections that I wanted to skip. Show Less
LibraryThing member japaul22
[Unsheltered] by [[Barbara Kingsolver]]
In Kingsolver's latest novel she explores the topics of middle class poverty and the destruction of the earth by using two different time periods. The modern day story is of Willa Knox and her family. Willa is an out-of-work writer and her husband, Iano, has
I usually enjoy Kingsolver's work and there is certainly something in this book to appreciate, but I found the message very heavy-handed and a bit over-dramatic. I'm also not quite sure that the two timelines worked so well together. The whole thing felt a bit unfocused or forced.
I'd like to hear if others have the same opinion, but at the same time I can't recommend this as a book to run out and read immediately.
In Kingsolver's latest novel she explores the topics of middle class poverty and the destruction of the earth by using two different time periods. The modern day story is of Willa Knox and her family. Willa is an out-of-work writer and her husband, Iano, has
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lost his college professorship and pension after his college closes. They move to a house they've inherited in Vineland, NJ. Both of their adult children are also down on their luck so they are still caring for them and Iano's father, who is elderly and dying. The other story is set in the late 1800s in the same town, where Thatcher Greenwood brings his wife and mother-in-law to a home that they have inherited. He teaches in the town and is dismayed at the hostility he finds when he tries to teach the science of the day (Darwinism). He also meets a next door neighbor, Mary Treat, who is a respected natural scientist. These two timelines share a common desire for something better in life, but obstacles at every turn. And crumbling homes - literally built so poorly that the houses are falling down. I usually enjoy Kingsolver's work and there is certainly something in this book to appreciate, but I found the message very heavy-handed and a bit over-dramatic. I'm also not quite sure that the two timelines worked so well together. The whole thing felt a bit unfocused or forced.
I'd like to hear if others have the same opinion, but at the same time I can't recommend this as a book to run out and read immediately.
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LibraryThing member snash
A tale of two families, 140 years apart, living on the same plot of land dealing with a collapsing house. The characters were well drawn and had impressive integrity. In both tales, besides their falling down house, they were dealing with a collapsing world view with some championing the new and
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most hanging on tenaciously to the old. Show Less
LibraryThing member bblum
Unraveling of the middle class belief that education and following the rules will guarantee family security and upward mobility. Kingsolver again makes nature a large part of the narrative which she does beautifully with a keen eye and great language. The books gets a bit harpy especially the 19th
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century piece with the discussion of Decency vs Darwin. However, Kingsolver has a sly wit about our current predicament with a president and his base that doesn't buy into science and truth with any more relish that they fair folks of 1870's century Vineland PA. Fun aside, Willa's husband Iano is Greek with humorous vulgar and expressive language skills, in Greek. Characters Willa, Zeke, Tig Tavoularis and Thatcher Greenwood and Mary Treat - 1870's. Show Less
LibraryThing member cmt100
Bailed after a hundred pages or so. A combination of boredom and a strong desire not to be in Willa's world.
LibraryThing member ParadisePorch
Kingsolver is one of my favourite authors although I haven't loved everything I've read by her. But I did love this. I was delighted how the dual timeline tied together, and how the house became a character itself.
LibraryThing member ozzer
Kingsolver uses Mary Treat, a 19th century botanist, as one of the characters in UNSHELTERED. She presents Treat as a dedicated scientist, abandoned by her husband and living in a time and place where science was viewed with skepticism. Kingsolver sets up a counterpoint between Treat and a modern
Treat serves as a role model for her neighbor, Thatcher, who teaches science in the local school. Thatcher is frustrated by an administration that micromanages his curriculum away from science and toward religion and a family that is primarily interested in social status. Thatcher sees Treat as a person who has come to terms with a limited existence by ignoring convention and focusing on what truly excites her—studying the flora and fauna in her immediate environment.
Kingsolver asks important questions about the values that provide happiness versus those that seem to be thrust upon us by society. The novel has an interesting structure—casts of characters a century apart seeking answers to similar questions. However the parallels between the 19th and 21st Century characters and plots lack subtlety. The plot moves very slowly and tends to diverge too readily into philosophizing. With the exception of Willa and Thatcher, the characters are not particularly nuanced. The ending also seems rushed and contrived to be optimistic.
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family living in the same community. Willa is the matriarch struggling with a house that is a “shambles”, caring for her newborn grandchild and a dying father-in-law. She is a freelance journalist making little income, married to an under-employed professor. Despite doing “everything right”, her family has not been able to achieve the American dream.Treat serves as a role model for her neighbor, Thatcher, who teaches science in the local school. Thatcher is frustrated by an administration that micromanages his curriculum away from science and toward religion and a family that is primarily interested in social status. Thatcher sees Treat as a person who has come to terms with a limited existence by ignoring convention and focusing on what truly excites her—studying the flora and fauna in her immediate environment.
Kingsolver asks important questions about the values that provide happiness versus those that seem to be thrust upon us by society. The novel has an interesting structure—casts of characters a century apart seeking answers to similar questions. However the parallels between the 19th and 21st Century characters and plots lack subtlety. The plot moves very slowly and tends to diverge too readily into philosophizing. With the exception of Willa and Thatcher, the characters are not particularly nuanced. The ending also seems rushed and contrived to be optimistic.
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LibraryThing member brangwinn
Comparing Victorian attitudes with day beliefs, Kingsolver has brought forth a novel that shows we still have a long way to go. Her progressive family in the story has depth and lots to say about politics. Grandpa is clearly a Trump supporter, which his son seems to be able to ignore and causes his
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daughter-in-law to grit her teeth. It’s a multi-generational family struggling to make ends meet. Living in an inherited home, hoping to be able to find a grant to make it livable provides the fodder for the story that moves from the home inhabitants of post-Civil War times and the current family. As usual, Kingsolver gives us lots to think about. Show Less
LibraryThing member SignoraEdie
Got to page 159 and was still not engaged. So disappointed. Maybe if I try it another time.
LibraryThing member stevesmits
"Things fall apart; the center cannot hold". The poet's words would capture the theme of Kingsolver's terrific new novel about the unraveling of society in the early 21st century. Willa and her husband Ione have seen their comfortable middle class life collapse; they have played by the rules of
A metaphor of their personal collapse, the home is literally falling down; they are so financially strapped they have no means to repair it. Willa thinks she can possibly get grant money if the house can be determined to be historically significant. While researching she finds references to Mary Treat, a naturalist from the 19th century who may have lived in the home. Treat (an actual person) studied the flora and fauna of the region and was in communication with Charles Darwin and other notable scientists of the era.
The time period shifts to 1875 when Thatcher Greenwood, his new bride, her sister and his mother-in-law move into the home. They have moved from Boston following the death of his father-in-law. Here also, the home is falling down and Thatcher has no hope of repairing it since he has only a poorly compensated teaching job at a local academy. Thatcher becomes an admirerer and friend of Treat with whom he shares an interest in modern science, particularly Darwin's recently published theory of descent through natural selection. He is awed that she is a correspondant of Darwin and other scientists. Thatcher wants to share Darwin's work with his students, but is harshly suppressed by the school's principal, a fervant believer in the literalism of the biblical version of creation.
The chapters alternate between the present and past, each depicting the conflict brought about by powerful interests that persevere in preserving the status quo of outmoded structures and quash the emerging imperative realities of changing circumstances and factors impacting on society and the world. Willa's daughter, Tig, is of the cadre of millenials who recognize that unrestrained capitalism and the materialistic compulsions of society to consume more and more will result in the desolation of the planet. Willa senses this, but cannot abandon the hope that somehow everything will right itself, that their bad fortune will reverse. Willa understands Tig's viewpoint but cannot shed the cultural rules and norms that have governed their lives. Thatcher's struggles with his principal grow, culminating in a public debate in which his logic and knowledge of modern science humiliate the principal's inane biblical explanations of creation. Nonetheless, Thatcher loses his job and then his marriage, as his wife has become frustrated by their failure to move up in the town's society.
As Kingsolver does so well, the novel blends a fascinating story with a cautionary message about the perils to humankind and the planet brought about by our blith ignorance of the impact our materialistic behavior 0n the environment. (See also "Flight Behavior" for similar sense of her message.) Written in 2016, the book gives slightly veiled references to the distasteful"bullhorn" political candidate whose views will take us further down the wrong road.
Perhaps this work's themes are a bit too obvious and didactic, but it is nonetheless an important one. I'm surprised that "Unsheltered", while well-reviewed, did not make any of the lists of outstanding novels of 2018.
An interesting non-fiction companion book to "Unsheltered", though a few years old now, is "The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America" by George Packer.
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contemporary America, but things have gone badly for them. He was a professor at a college in Virginia that closed and she an editor of a magazine that folded. This necessitated a move to Vineland, New Jersey to a Victorian-era home Willa has inheirited. (Vineland's origins were as a planned and sort of utopian community started by Captain Landis who exercised iron control over the community.) Ione has taken a low-paying teaching job at a small college in Philadelphia. They are joined by Tig, their radical 30-something daughter fresh from a long stay in Cuba, their son Nick and his infant son and Ione's irascible and racist Greek father in failing health. Nick is newly a widower following the suicide of his wife. Nick is trying start a socially-responsible hedge fund company in Boston so he's mostly absent from New Jersey. His and Tig's views about the meaning of continual and unrestrained growth as the underpinning of capitalism are sharply at odds.A metaphor of their personal collapse, the home is literally falling down; they are so financially strapped they have no means to repair it. Willa thinks she can possibly get grant money if the house can be determined to be historically significant. While researching she finds references to Mary Treat, a naturalist from the 19th century who may have lived in the home. Treat (an actual person) studied the flora and fauna of the region and was in communication with Charles Darwin and other notable scientists of the era.
The time period shifts to 1875 when Thatcher Greenwood, his new bride, her sister and his mother-in-law move into the home. They have moved from Boston following the death of his father-in-law. Here also, the home is falling down and Thatcher has no hope of repairing it since he has only a poorly compensated teaching job at a local academy. Thatcher becomes an admirerer and friend of Treat with whom he shares an interest in modern science, particularly Darwin's recently published theory of descent through natural selection. He is awed that she is a correspondant of Darwin and other scientists. Thatcher wants to share Darwin's work with his students, but is harshly suppressed by the school's principal, a fervant believer in the literalism of the biblical version of creation.
The chapters alternate between the present and past, each depicting the conflict brought about by powerful interests that persevere in preserving the status quo of outmoded structures and quash the emerging imperative realities of changing circumstances and factors impacting on society and the world. Willa's daughter, Tig, is of the cadre of millenials who recognize that unrestrained capitalism and the materialistic compulsions of society to consume more and more will result in the desolation of the planet. Willa senses this, but cannot abandon the hope that somehow everything will right itself, that their bad fortune will reverse. Willa understands Tig's viewpoint but cannot shed the cultural rules and norms that have governed their lives. Thatcher's struggles with his principal grow, culminating in a public debate in which his logic and knowledge of modern science humiliate the principal's inane biblical explanations of creation. Nonetheless, Thatcher loses his job and then his marriage, as his wife has become frustrated by their failure to move up in the town's society.
As Kingsolver does so well, the novel blends a fascinating story with a cautionary message about the perils to humankind and the planet brought about by our blith ignorance of the impact our materialistic behavior 0n the environment. (See also "Flight Behavior" for similar sense of her message.) Written in 2016, the book gives slightly veiled references to the distasteful"bullhorn" political candidate whose views will take us further down the wrong road.
Perhaps this work's themes are a bit too obvious and didactic, but it is nonetheless an important one. I'm surprised that "Unsheltered", while well-reviewed, did not make any of the lists of outstanding novels of 2018.
An interesting non-fiction companion book to "Unsheltered", though a few years old now, is "The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America" by George Packer.
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LibraryThing member JGoto
With its alternating chapters, this novel has an interesting juxtaposition of two families that lived on the same plot of land a hundred and fifty years apart. It was particularly interesting to see how the masses ignored science and favored Christianity over Darwin in the late 1800's and compare
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that to the rise of Donald Trump and his ignorance in present day. Show Less
LibraryThing member carolfoisset
I do love Barbara Kingsolver and I enjoyed this book, but can't say I loved it. Very readable and I enjoyed learning about Mary Treat (will be looking into learning more about her), but some of Kingsolver's message just seemed too forced. I totally agree with her views, but wasn't always impressed
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with the way she wove them into the story. The book is physically beautiful and I especially liked the letter to the reader in the editions sold at independent book stores. Show Less
LibraryThing member shazjhb
I love her stories and commentary on the world. The house is the focal point. Not sure if the 2 stories work together. Such a great writer
LibraryThing member novelcommentary
Interestingly this novel takes place in Vineland, New Jersey and the streets off of Landis Avenue are described as they were once envisioned when Charles Landis developed his utopian community for this area in South Jersey. Besides the true life facts of an area I know pretty well, Kingsolver
In the alternating chapters we come to know Thatcher Greenwood who has recently been hired as the new science teacher to one of the first high schools in the country. His paradox is to be a scientist while not being able to mention the name or teachings of the dreaded Charles Darwin. He seeks consolation from a neighbor next door who is his intellectual soulmate and is in fact the scientist Mary Treat. Kingsolver does a nice job intertwining the historical with the plausible to make for an educational and enjoyable read. Highly recommend.
NYT
Kingsolver’s dual narrative works beautifully here. By giving us a family and a world teetering on the brink in 2016, and conveying a different but connected type of 19th-century teetering, Kingsolver eventually creates a sense not so much that history repeats itself, but that as humans we’re inevitably connected through the possibility of collapse, whether it’s the collapse of our houses, our bodies, logic, the social order or earth itself.
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intertwined two narratives, one current and one in the 1870s, which are used to illustrate her themes, namely the idea of feeling unsheltered. This is a time when the promises of the world seem to be fading, like the idea of a job was guaranteed out of college or a pension at the end of a career. Even the actual dwelling that the two protagonists inhabit are in shambles. While in present day an unnamed presidential candidate says he could shoot a man on Main Street and get away with it, in the story of 1875 this actually happens. The two protagonist of the narrative are Willa Hoyt and Thatcher Greenwood. Willa and her husband have inherited a dilapidated house in 2016 just when their respective jobs went out of business. Willa has two children, one of which suffers the loss of his girlfriend to suicide within the first chapter. His newborn child becomes part of Willa's family along with her very independent and environmentally outspoken daughter named Tig. In the alternating chapters we come to know Thatcher Greenwood who has recently been hired as the new science teacher to one of the first high schools in the country. His paradox is to be a scientist while not being able to mention the name or teachings of the dreaded Charles Darwin. He seeks consolation from a neighbor next door who is his intellectual soulmate and is in fact the scientist Mary Treat. Kingsolver does a nice job intertwining the historical with the plausible to make for an educational and enjoyable read. Highly recommend.
NYT
Kingsolver’s dual narrative works beautifully here. By giving us a family and a world teetering on the brink in 2016, and conveying a different but connected type of 19th-century teetering, Kingsolver eventually creates a sense not so much that history repeats itself, but that as humans we’re inevitably connected through the possibility of collapse, whether it’s the collapse of our houses, our bodies, logic, the social order or earth itself.
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LibraryThing member jennyandaustin
I normally love Barbara Kingsolver but alas not this one
LibraryThing member msf59
“Unsheltered, I live in daylight. And the wandering bird I rest in thee.”
Kingsolver's latest novel, is told in dueling narratives. The first focuses on Willa Knox, in modern day New Jersey, living precariously in a ramshackle old house, she inherited. She is struggling to keep her life and
It is a well-written, deeply researched book. It is a bit rambling at times, and I would have liked it a bit tighter but it is still a solid read and takes a couple of shots at the current administration, which of course I admire.
Kingsolver's latest novel, is told in dueling narratives. The first focuses on Willa Knox, in modern day New Jersey, living precariously in a ramshackle old house, she inherited. She is struggling to keep her life and
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family together, but like the house, it keeps threatening to fall to apart. The second narrative, set in the 1880s, deals with a science teacher and his friendship with an eccentric and brilliant naturalist, (a real-life figure) named Mary Treat. It is a well-written, deeply researched book. It is a bit rambling at times, and I would have liked it a bit tighter but it is still a solid read and takes a couple of shots at the current administration, which of course I admire.
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LibraryThing member jepeters333
Willa Knox has always prided herself on being the embodiment of responsibility for her family. Which is why it’s so unnerving that she’s arrived at middle age with nothing to show for her hard work and dedication but a stack of unpaid bills and an inherited brick home in Vineland, New Jersey,
In an act of desperation, Willa begins to investigate the history of her home, hoping that the local historical preservation society might take an interest and provide funding for its direly needed repairs. Through her research into Vineland’s past and its creation as a Utopian community, she discovers a kindred spirit from the 1880s, Thatcher Greenwood.
A science teacher with a lifelong passion for honest investigation, Thatcher finds himself under siege in his community for telling the truth: his employer forbids him to speak of the exciting new theory recently published by Charles Darwin. Thatcher’s friendships with a brilliant woman scientist and a renegade newspaper editor draw him into a vendetta with the town’s most powerful men. At home, his new wife and status-conscious mother-in-law bristle at the risk of scandal, and dismiss his financial worries and the news that their elegant house is structurally unsound.
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that is literally falling apart. The magazine where she worked has folded, and the college where her husband had tenure has closed. The dilapidated house is also home to her ailing and cantankerous Greek father-in-law and her two grown children: her stubborn, free-spirited daughter, Tig, and her dutiful debt-ridden, ivy educated son, Zeke, who has arrived with his unplanned baby in the wake of a life-shattering development.In an act of desperation, Willa begins to investigate the history of her home, hoping that the local historical preservation society might take an interest and provide funding for its direly needed repairs. Through her research into Vineland’s past and its creation as a Utopian community, she discovers a kindred spirit from the 1880s, Thatcher Greenwood.
A science teacher with a lifelong passion for honest investigation, Thatcher finds himself under siege in his community for telling the truth: his employer forbids him to speak of the exciting new theory recently published by Charles Darwin. Thatcher’s friendships with a brilliant woman scientist and a renegade newspaper editor draw him into a vendetta with the town’s most powerful men. At home, his new wife and status-conscious mother-in-law bristle at the risk of scandal, and dismiss his financial worries and the news that their elegant house is structurally unsound.
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LibraryThing member SamSattler
"Unsheltered" is a brilliantly constructed novel of historical fiction that uses an old house to bind characters from the 19th century to a group of them from the 21st. It all happens in Vineland, New Jersey, and involves a small group of historical figures that very few readers of the novel will
Willa Knox and her husband are relocating again. And as has happened to the couple several times before, they are moving so that Iano, Willa's husband, can chase tenure at a different college. The couple have two adult children who flew the nest a few years earlier, but the near poverty-stricken couple this time around is inheriting Iano's crotchety father. Adding to their financial problems, is the fact that Willa finds herself working as a freelance writer for the first time in years because the magazine for which she has most recently worked has folded. All that would be enough to floor many couples, but that's just the beginning of the couple's troubles in Vineland because one night the phone rings, and what their son tells them dwarfs every problem they have ever had or feared.
Kingsolver alternates chapters from the 19th and 21st centuries, contrasting and comparing life in Vineland then and now, and finding life in the two periods surprisingly similar. The 19th century chapters focus on a handful of historical figures, scientist Mary Treat; school teacher and Darwin defender, Thatcher Greenwood; Charles Landis, founder of the Vineland utopia; and the man murdered by Landis, one Uri Carruth.
My only quibble with the novel, and it is admittedly a minor one, is the often heavy-handed Trump criticism that is sprinkled throughout the book (Trump is not named, but it is very obvious that the author has him in mind). In addition, global warming is used to ridicule those who still refuse to accept that as a given, and one character gleefully explains that she can hardly wait for all the "old men" to finally die off so that her generation can take over the government. That all grew a bit tedious, and even as good a writer as Kingsolver, cannot quite pull it off. (And, yes, I realize that this was part of the author's character development, but it was unnecessary to go on and on and on about this side of those characters.)
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have ever heard. But that's part of the brilliance of Kingsolver's story - and it helps to make the author's fictional characters almost indistinguishable from those who lived and breathed in Vineland in the past.Willa Knox and her husband are relocating again. And as has happened to the couple several times before, they are moving so that Iano, Willa's husband, can chase tenure at a different college. The couple have two adult children who flew the nest a few years earlier, but the near poverty-stricken couple this time around is inheriting Iano's crotchety father. Adding to their financial problems, is the fact that Willa finds herself working as a freelance writer for the first time in years because the magazine for which she has most recently worked has folded. All that would be enough to floor many couples, but that's just the beginning of the couple's troubles in Vineland because one night the phone rings, and what their son tells them dwarfs every problem they have ever had or feared.
Kingsolver alternates chapters from the 19th and 21st centuries, contrasting and comparing life in Vineland then and now, and finding life in the two periods surprisingly similar. The 19th century chapters focus on a handful of historical figures, scientist Mary Treat; school teacher and Darwin defender, Thatcher Greenwood; Charles Landis, founder of the Vineland utopia; and the man murdered by Landis, one Uri Carruth.
My only quibble with the novel, and it is admittedly a minor one, is the often heavy-handed Trump criticism that is sprinkled throughout the book (Trump is not named, but it is very obvious that the author has him in mind). In addition, global warming is used to ridicule those who still refuse to accept that as a given, and one character gleefully explains that she can hardly wait for all the "old men" to finally die off so that her generation can take over the government. That all grew a bit tedious, and even as good a writer as Kingsolver, cannot quite pull it off. (And, yes, I realize that this was part of the author's character development, but it was unnecessary to go on and on and on about this side of those characters.)
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Awards
Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 2020)
Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction (Longlist — Fiction — 2019)
BookTube Prize (Octofinalist — Fiction — 2019)
Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year (Fiction — 2018)
Booklist Editor's Choice: Adult Books (Fiction — 2018)
NPR: Books We Love (2018)
Christian Science Monitor Best Book (Fiction — 2018)
LibraryReads (Monthly Pick — October 2018)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2018-10-16
2018 (1e édition originale américaine, HarperCollins, New York)
2020-08-19 (1e traduction et édition française, Littérature étrangère, Rivages)
2021-09-08 (Réédition française, Poche, Littérature étrangère, Rivages)
Physical description
6.02 inches
ISBN
0571346987 / 9780571346981
Local notes
Willa Knox is a woman who stands braced against an upended world that seems to hold no mercy for her shattered life and family - or the crumbling house that contains her.
Stunning patterned sprayed edges on this edition.
Stunning patterned sprayed edges on this edition.