About the Book

Prodigal Summer weaves together three stories of human love within a larger tapestry of lives inhabiting the forested mountains and struggling small farms of southern Appalachia. Deanna Wolfe, a reclusive wildlife biologist, watches a den of coyotes that have recently migrated into the region. She is caught off-guard by a young hunter who invades her most private spaces and confounds her self-assured, solitary life. Lusa Maluf Landowski, a bookish city girl turned farmer’s wife, finds herself unexpectedly marooned in a strange place where she must declare or lose her attachment to the land that has become her own. A pair of elderly, feuding neighbors tend their respective farms and wrangle about God, pesticides, and the possibilities of a future neither of them expected. Over the course of one humid summer, as the urge to procreate overtakes the countryside, these characters find their connections to one another and to the flora and fauna with whom they share a place.

Critical Praise

“A lush, bountiful, opinionated novel of social conscience” — Washington Post Book World

“As illuminating as it is absorbing. . . . Resonates with the author’s overarching wisdom and passion.” — New York Times

“Full of ... tenderness, humour and earthy spirituality.” — Christian Science Monitor

“[Kingsolver’s] sexy, lyrical fifth novel renders our solitary yearnings with a finely trained eye and ear.” — People

“A blend of breathtaking artistry, encyclopedic knowledge of the natural world. . . and ardent commitment to the supremacy of nature. . . . .Barbara Kingsolver remains a voice readers have come to respect and love, a writer we will keep reading for as long as she continues to grace us with her bounty.” — San Francisco Chronicle

"A triumphant return to the southern Appalachians of her own childhood." — Orlando Sentinel

“A warm, intricately constructed book shot through with an extraordinary amount of insight and information about the wonders of the invisible world.” — Newsweek

"Ms. Kingsolver's writing is generously well-grafted; choice moments ... radiate from nearly every page." — Wall Street Journal

"As lush, rich and abundant as nature itself ... Prodigal Summer is quietly breathtaking, and its vista awe-inspiring." — Buffalo News

“Kingsolver deftly addresses the struggle between mankind and nature . . . . A lush. . . novel of love and loss in Appalachia.” — US Magazine

“Compelling ... Lives that are less simple, and far more passionate, than they appear.” — Glamour Magazine

Product Details

• ISBN: 9780061839924
• ISBN 10: 0061839922
• Imprint: HarperCollins e-books
• On Sale: 10/13/2009
• Pages: 464
• List Price: $10.99
• BISAC1 : FICTION / Action & Adventure
• BISAC2 : FICTION / Classics
• BISAC3 : FICTION / Sagas
• BISAC4 : FICTION / Literary
• BISAC5 : FICTION / Psychological
• BISAC6 : FICTION / Political
• BISAC7 : FICTION / Coming of Age
• BISAC8 : FICTION / Contemporary Women
• BISAC9 : FICTION / Cultural Heritage
• BISAC10 : FICTION / Small Town & Rural