Although I have read several Kingsolver books, I had never read her first book, The Bean Trees. It is interesting to see her promise as a writer in this first effort. Kingsolver has a way of teaching her readers a lesson about nature and human feeling that never sounds preachy. Her causes are important ones. As in her later books, her prose is rich, realistic and as vivid as the Arizona sunshine that is the setting for this novel. She is an expert in character dialogue, the colorful speech patterns and language of the south country.
Taylor (a name she invents for herself) Greer has had enough of her small Kentucky home town and finding herself stuck in an unrewarding job decides to pull up stakes and take a road trip across the country. She more or less tapes her old heap of a car together and sets out. She has a bit of Cherokee in her, and she imagines herself finding luck in Oklahoma. Instead she finds Turtle, or rather Turtle finds Taylor. Turtle is an abused and deeply silent Cherokee child who finds her savior in Taylor. Deciding Oklahoma is too flat and monotonous Taylor heads toward Arizona where a flat tire leads her to discover Mattie, a sort of den mother to immigrants on the road north. Mattie owns Jesus Is Lord Used Tires in Tucson. Taylor is a truthful, honest and clear-thinking country girl. Mattie takes her under her wing along with a house full of Guatemalan illegals. Taylor is employed by Mattie who can't say no to anyone who needs help and direction. Once settled in, Taylor makes friends with Lou Ann, a young mother whose husband deserted her. The two women and their children make a home as best they can, though they live on a shoestring.
Taylor and Turtle fit in well in Tucson, and though the book wallows in a bit of sentimentality that beggars belief at times, the story is interesting and engaging. I wouldn't say this is Kingsolver's best work, but if you haven't read this one and are a fan, you will find it an uplifting summer read.
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