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Pigs In Heaven (Greer Family #2)
Six-year-old Turtle Greer witnesses a freak accident at the Hoover Dam, leading to a man's dramatic rescue. But Turtle's moment of celebrity draws her into a crisis of historical proportions that will envelop not only her and her mother, Taylor, but everyone else who touched their lives in a complex web connecting their future with their past. With this wise, compelling n
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Published
by Faber and Faber
(first published 1992)
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Oct 10, 2008
Allison
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Cindy Ross-Katz, Marlene Dean
The funniest part about my adoration of Barbara Kingsolver is that my favorite book of hers is not The Poisonwood Bible. In fact, of the three books of hers I have read now, that is probably my least favorite. Prodigal Summer still probably ranks as my favorite, followed very closely by this one, Pigs in Heaven. My biggest disappointment upon finishing this novel occurred when I went back to the library to find another Kingsolver book and discovered that the only one they had was actually a preq...more
A sequel to The Bean Trees and I actually liked it better which is rare for me. The story centers around Taylor's illegal adoption of Turtle and the Cherokee nations attempt to get Turtle back. It studies the question of "best for the individual" vs "best for the group" and acknowledges both sides of the problem. The characters are very well written and developed. Barbara Kingsolver really takes you into the heart of her story. I also liked the exploration of what makes a family and how people n...more
This was the first Barbara Kingsolver I ever read. I had never heard of her, and I was 14, when the public library was having a discard sale. I liked the description on the back, so I picked it up. Maybe this started my love of Kingsolver... there's a good chance that's true. I think what really drew me in at that point was the story of a mother and a child who were trying to find themselves - and felt somewhat lost. I think I was feeling that way when I was 14 - I think most people feel lost wh...more
After my intense experience with The Bean Trees, there was no question that I would follow up with Pigs In Heaven as quickly as the library could deliver it to me. The audiobook is read by C J Crit, the same person who read The Bean Trees audiobook. That continuity was nice - it really felt like volumes one and two of the Taylor & Turtle chronicles. While I was relieved to have more of Turtle's story, and feel some kind of resolution of their family's story, I can readily admit that I prefer...more
PIGS IN HEAVEN is the sequel to Barbara Kingsolver's book THE BEAN TREES. The novel continues the story of the Cherokee child named "Turtle" and her adoptive mother Taylor Greer. In this sequel, we find Turtle and Taylor living together in Tucson along with Taylor's boyfriend, a life that is not quite what would be called the most perfect of environments. They live in poverty, barely making ends meet. Although Taylor does her best, her income is limited, but she gives Turtle a lot of love, and a...more
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This was a really good book. The story of a Cherokee child's adoptive mother's struggles to keep her daughter when the Nation wants the girl back. No real villains here except the conflicting needs of multiple characters and for the sad but resourceful history. Also a vehicle to explore the Native American culture in contrast to and as a component of American culture. Students of history can see similarities between the Cherokee and Scotch/Irish who ironically and tragically supplanted them in t...more
I'm a big fan of Barbara Kingsolver. As usual, this is many intertwined stories in one. This centers on the question of what defines a family? A horribly abused and orphaned Cherokee child is given to a stranger passing through a parking lot, and years later, the adoption is called into question. The Cherokee Nation must approve all adoptions of Cherokee children to non-Cherokee parents. So who's right? The adoptive mother who has loved and healed this child, or the nation that understands her h...more
I think if I hadn't read The Bean Trees first, I would have given this 4 stars, but I went in with too high of expectations, and I felt like some of the repeat characters' actions weren't consistent with their personalities in the previous book. Still a good book, though. I liked the way that Kingsolver makes you sympathize with the characters, even when they are at odds with each other. And I liked how it made you think about what a child needs to form their identity and find their place in the...more
I just couldn't get into this continuation of Taylor and Turtle's story despite how much I loved meeting them in The Bean Trees. Pigs in Heaven catches up with the ladies three years after the close of the last book. They are happy and living in Tuscon but when they take a trip to Hoover Dam their lives change. The Cherokee Nation learns of Taylor's not-quite-legal adoption of Turtle and cites the Indian Child Welfare Act to request her be returned to the tribe, sending Taylor into a panic. Tayl...more
I just finished this book a couple of days ago. I must admit that I was VERY distracted while reading it. A friend lent it to me and we are moving, so I have been rushing through my "loaner" books before we move. I am giving this book 4 stars because I feel like if I was in my right mind and reading it, I would give it 4.
Here's what I liked-Barbara Kingsolver FILLED this book with great visual connections...for example...she talked about the suitcase yawning against the closet door...that kind...more
Here's what I liked-Barbara Kingsolver FILLED this book with great visual connections...for example...she talked about the suitcase yawning against the closet door...that kind...more
Jan 22, 2013
Sandra
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Bookclubs
Shelves:
fiction,
other-cultures
This book continues the story of Turtle, the abused orphan girl infant, a Cherokee Indian, given to Taylor Greer at a gas station by the infant's drunken aunt. Taylor and her boyfriend and musician Jax have made a home for the three of them, when their lives start to unravel. Eventually we discover that Taylor's mother, Alice Greer, a free-thinking and determined woman who has just left her husband with his car headlight collection and blaring TV, will figure in the plot, when she tries to help...more
This book was fabulous! I'm already a fan of Barbara Kingsolver and this book did not disappoint. Each character was so keenly drawn and I could see, touch and feel them. Added to which, this book taught me a great deal about the Cherokee Nation and brought their past and recent struggles to protect and maintain their identity into sharp relief.
As a second generation African - my parents came to the UK from Nigeria - I've always had a strong sense of identity, so I could really relate to Annawak...more
As a second generation African - my parents came to the UK from Nigeria - I've always had a strong sense of identity, so I could really relate to Annawak...more
As Newsweek says, "A novel full of miracles." Although, I had my doubts!
My Take
It took some 58 pages before I got into it. It's a slow-moving, meandering story that takes its time to set up everyone's background, and it just took Kingsolver that long before she got the hook in.
While telling this tale of a strong woman and her equally strong daughter, Kingsolver manages to include a telling history of the Trail of Tears and all that the Cherokee accomplished until the federal government finally m...more
My Take
It took some 58 pages before I got into it. It's a slow-moving, meandering story that takes its time to set up everyone's background, and it just took Kingsolver that long before she got the hook in.
While telling this tale of a strong woman and her equally strong daughter, Kingsolver manages to include a telling history of the Trail of Tears and all that the Cherokee accomplished until the federal government finally m...more
I was looking forward to this sequel to The Bean Trees, which I quite liked. Taylor and her adopted Cherokee daughter Turtle are back, three years later. They got their 15 minutes of fame when 6-year-old Turtle witnessed an accident, saved somebody, and went on Oprah to talk about it. Unfortunately, a lawyer from the Cherokee Nation sees Turtle on Oprah and threatens to disrupt Taylor and Turtle's happy life together.
I was so disappointed. The entire purpose of this book is to drive home The Poi...more
I was so disappointed. The entire purpose of this book is to drive home The Poi...more
This book is the sequel to Barbara Kingsolver's book The Bean Trees -- it has the same characters but is set three years after the first book when it is discovered that Turtle's adoption by Taylor isn't really legal. I did not like this book nearly as well as I liked The Bean Trees -- in fact it was a bit of a chore for me to get through it. The story line was somewhat interesting, but not compelling. The beginning of the book seemed completely disconnected from the end. the character Lucky Bust...more
Pigs in Heaven is a sequel to The Bean Trees. I enjoy Barbara Kingsolver books, and until I started reading Pigs in Heaven I didn't realize it was connected to the Bean Trees. The story revolves around the 3 Greer women. Taylor, who ran away from Kentucky, headed west and was handed a baby in an Oklahoma gas station. Turtle, the baby, who is now in kindergarten, and Alice, Taylor's mother, who is in the midst of leaving her second husband. There are lots of connections in the book that the reade...more
I loved the characters in The Bean Trees so much, I couldn't wait to find out what happened to them. I loved this book. I loved getting to know Taylor's mother better. I loved all the quirky characters we met on the reservation. This book was very different than the first, but I was expecting it to have something to do with the illegal adoption of Turtle coming back to bite Taylor. I knew a little bit about the Indian Child Welfare Act from my years working for child protection, but I never had...more
Although Kingsolver is a great storyteller, this novel is so maddening that I lost sleep over parts of it. The book uses the illegal adoption of Turtle, a native member of the Cherokee Nation, as a premise for the question: Is racial identity more important than unconditional maternal love? Somehow, the fact that Turtle is Cherokee is supposed to complicate this otherwise inane question. Apparently, it is illegal to adopt a Cherokee child without the consent of the tribe. The sympathetic lawyer...more
I'm not sure what to think of this continuation of The Bean Trees. I have loved most of Barbara Kingsolver's books but I wasn't so crazy about this one. I still love her style of writing and I think that is the only thing that kept me moving through the book. The big downfall is that I didn't care for the story...in The Bean Trees, the main character, Taylor, finds a three year old American Indian child in her car as she is driving cross country. She ends up adopting the little girl. In Pigs In...more
Jul 28, 2010
Sally Pearce
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Kingsolver fans
Shelves:
read-in-2010
4.5 stars. PIGS IN HEAVEN is the sequel to THE BEAN TREES. Can you read them separately? You can, but you would miss a huge part of the story. This book is far better written than THE BEAN TREES and is a real joy. There is a quote I particularly loved, made by Alice, Turtle's grandmother. It can be found on page 214. For me it's a personal revelation: "When I was in my thirties I had these little square hips left over from being pregnant and I just hated it. I kept thinking 'All those years befo...more
Written as a sequel to the wonderfully funny, offbeat and tender The Bean Trees, Pigs in Heaven continues the story of Taylor Greer and Turtle, her adopted Cherokee daughter. Because Kingsolver is such a fine writer, she could not produce a bad book if she tried, but this one is only so-so. It's as if someone said to her, "Gee, an illegally adopted Cherokee child--do you know how many children Native Americans lose like that?" And Kingsolver dutifully wrote a book to resolve that vexing problem....more
As a diligent reader of The Bean Trees, I still love the profound characters in the book, but was sorely disappointed with the idiotic choices made by one of the main characters. Taylor Greer’s suitable decision making capabilities seemed to disintegrate at a record eating pace. She broadcasts nationwide via the Oprah Show that her adopted Cherokee daughter (Turtle) was abandoned in her car. Legally it’s documented that Turtle’s birth parents willingly gave her to Taylor, so should we be at all...more
This is a continuation of the story found in "The Bean Trees". Much longer, with many more characters, it presented a more 'complete' story line than Bean Trees.
The main characters of Taylor, Turtle and Alice have more depth. Here is a clearer example of strong, everyday women that I enjoy in Kingsolver books. I was very happily gobbling up this book until I hit the last 3rd. Here is where I felt there was such inexplicable behavior in one of the main characters that I felt I must of missed a se...more
The main characters of Taylor, Turtle and Alice have more depth. Here is a clearer example of strong, everyday women that I enjoy in Kingsolver books. I was very happily gobbling up this book until I hit the last 3rd. Here is where I felt there was such inexplicable behavior in one of the main characters that I felt I must of missed a se...more
I didn't like this one as much as I liked the Bean Trees (which I downright loved) but Kingsolver is such a great writer that I couldn't help but continue to be absorbed by these characters. The plot did feel a little contrived, especially toward the end but the characters were great and I sincerely cared about all of them and about the outcome. This book also raised a lot of important questions about what constitutes a family. Glad it asked those questions cause not every book would even dare t...more
Wow! What a gem! This early Kingsolver displays a literary prowess virtually unmatched by any other living author. The story, of a woman fighting to keep her illegally adopted daughter and the efforts of a native American lawyer to reintegrate a lost member of her tribe, is heart-wrenching and beautifully written. The language and the descriptions not only carry one into this story, but also paint word pictures that are breathtakingly beautiful. Ms. Kingsolver has long been a favorite, and only...more
I love Barbara Kingsolver, but this book was awful. Every character who passed through the pages was there to reinforce the "white man selfish" "Cherokee poor, but very love family" stereotype that the book beat you over the head with, page after page. The white guy the protagonist has a date with brings one apple on a picnic for three. The teenage Cherokee boy shows off the fish he's just caught to his grandmother and asks her to choose some - a teenager showing love for his grandmother, shocki...more
This was unexpectedly satisfying. The first third is a little off-kilter, but the story began to build, gain momentum, and suck me in. I think Barbara Kingsolver is just an amazing writer. She's one of those writers who says so much about a person, place, or moment in so few words. Her characters are so well-written I can see and hear them, and not just a visual of what they look like but I can see their mannerisms and thoughts. She has a knack for nailing people's idiosyncrasies and how those l...more
I enjoyed the Bean Trees a lot so I thought I should read this sequel. I definitely read this book quickly, so its an easy read, but I can't say I enjoyed it quite as much as the previous story in this series. I think some of the book felt a little tired to me, like when you see the first movie of a trilogy and you really like it, but in the second movie they use some of the same jokes or story lines and you feel a sense of Deja Vu that isn't interesting anymore.
This is only my second encounter with Kingsolver's works and while I enjoyed the characters and especially her flair for dialogue, the storyline was a little bit predictable which in the end led to only two stars. It was only after I finished this novel that I learned that this book is a sequel so I missed out on the backstory. Taylor is a young woman living in Tuscon with her adopted Cherokee daughter Turtle and boyfriend Jax. While on vacation, Turtle sees an accident and is instrumental in ge...more
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Barbara Kingsolver is an American novelist, essayist, and poet. She was raised in rural Kentucky and lived briefly in Africa in her early childhood. Kingsolver earned degrees in Biology at DePauw University and the University of Arizona and worked as a freelance writer before she began writing novels. Her most famous works include The Poisonwood Bible, the tale of a missionary family in the Congo,...more
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