Book Review of Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver
UPDATED: 2/4/2023
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461 pages, published in 2018
YOU MAY ENJOY THIS BOOK IF YOU LIKE:
literary fiction * historical fiction * social/political commentary * feminist literature
travel inspiration:
Vineland, New Jersey is the real-life town where Unsheltered unfolds. Located in the southern part of New Jersey, Vineland is just due south of the line that connects Philadelphia to Atlantic City.
About the Author: Barbara Kingsolver
If Barbara Kingsolver’s name sounds familiar to you, you most likely are familiar with her best-selling novel Poisonwood Bible (1998), which follows a missionary family from the state of Georgia to the Congo. While it has been years since I read that book, I overall enjoyed it, particularly since Kingsolver herself lived briefly in the Congo as a child. For those who, like us, are interested in environmentalism and eating locally, you may also be familiar with her narrative nonfiction Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life , which details Kingsolver and her family attempting to only ingest local food for a year. I have not yet read that book, but it’s on my (long) list!
REVIEW OF Unsheltered BY Barbara Kingsolver:
When I learned Kingsolver’s new book Unsheltered was hitting the stands, I was immediately curious to read it. There are a number of components that tie this book inwardly to itself and outwardly to society that lead to many interesting layers. Because of that, I think that any two readers of this book could come away with very different perceptions.
At its core, Unsheltered tells two parallel stories - one taking place in present-day Vineland, where Willa Knox’s family has just found themselves unexpectedly moving into town and into a surprisingly decrepit house amidst familial and employment turmoil, the other following the story of Thatcher Greenwood and his family during the late 1800s in the life and times of the original founders of the town of Vineland, an interesting town established by a man who can only be described as quite a character, Charles Landis. What ties these two stories together is that each family lives in the same spot, where they are ‘sheltered,’ a purposeful homage to the novel’s title, which sets up various facets of the novel’s theme: what it means to be sheltered or unsheltered, as it were.
In the Knox family (the present-day story), it is quickly established that Willa and her Greek husband, Iano, have found themselves at a point and place in life that does not meet their expectations. The litany of disappointments are varied: professional and economic certainly but also twists and turns in the lives of their extended family, which include son, Zeke, daughter, Tig, and Iano’s ill and dying father, Nick, who resides with them. Kingsolver makes it evident that Willa and Iano are representative of so many of their generation, nearing retirement without the safeguards they had expected. As the novel says several times in different ways, they did everything thing were supposed to do to be successful, and still they are only here after all. Their unasked question: What was the purpose of everything we did?
A generational response speaks through their adult children, who are as polar opposite as they come and have their own struggles, but seem to be asking different questions of their own lives and see themselves ultimately as the deciders of their own truths and own destinations in a way unavailable to their parents’ generation.
The Greenwood family in the late 1800s finds themselves living at a pivotal point in society as well. Thatcher is a school teacher new to town and recently married. He is living in the home with his mother-in-law, wife, and teenage sister-in-law. A man of science and education, he finds himself in the middle of a town dead-set against the new findings of Charles Darwin on the origin of species and mankind as direct threats to their religious world view.
In a fascinating sub-plot, Thatcher befriends his neighbor, Mary Treat, a female scientist of the day who was in direct correspondence with Darwin and other scientists of the day, exchanging scientific inquiries and discoveries with them. Mary Treat, like many of the supporting characters in the novel, are based on real people and stories. The character of Mary Treat was one of my favorite parts of the book and led me to want to learn more about her. There is not a lot of information about her on the internet - not surprising given how little attention was paid to women scientists in that era, but you can read a little more here. In the novel, both Mary Treat and Thatcher Greenwood form a club of persona non grata in their town, a place where you are either with the town’s founder, Charles Landis, or you are better off finding your way elsewhere. Charles Landis was another character that both intrigued and appalled me. There is some great information and original news articles about him, but they give away some key parts to this story, so I would recommend you look him up only after reading the novel.
In both time periods, the main characters struggle with the confines of their times - how to get by, meet or fight societal expectations, and carve their own place out in the world. Some are more successful than others.
Woven in the present-day story is a very clear tie to the current political environment and situation with interesting echoes back into the historic era, proving that aphorism: There is nothing new under the sun. My only complaint in an otherwise engaging novel was the heavy handedness of the inclusion of the current political situation in the United States. More subtlety would have gone a long way for making the points and trusted that the readers are sharp enough to pick up on things on their own.
Have you read Unsheltered or any other writings by Barbara Kingsolver? I would love to hear your thoughts, reactions, and recommendations in the comments!
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