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Flight Behaviour

3.76 of 5 stars 3.76 · rating details · 13,887 ratings · 3,186 reviews

Discontented with her life of poverty on a failing farm in the Eastern United States, Dellarobia, a young mother, impulsively seeks out an affair. Instead, on the Appalachian mountains above her farm, she discovers something much more profoundly life-changing — a beautiful and terrible marvel of nature. As the world around her is suddenly transformed by a seeming miracle,...more

Paperback, 496 pages

Published November 2012 by Faber

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Jun 12, 2012 Will Byrnes rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-of-the-year-2012, nature

In 2004 Barbara Kingsolver moved from Tucson, where she had lived since 1978, to southern Appalachia. This marked a return to her roots, migrating back to an ancestral place, like the butterflies in her latest novel, Flight Behavior might once have done. She must feel right at home there as she has written a wonderful book set in the fictional Appalachian town of Feathertown, Tennessee. The flight of the title refers not only to the arrival of hordes of butterflies, but flights of various sorts...more

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Dec 27, 2012 Jeanette rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: all-fiction, america, cultural-and-social-commentary, domestic-and-relationship-fiction

Redneck environmentalism. Now there's a contradiction in terms.
Kingsolver's writing is up to its usual high standards, and her character development is outstanding. She just tried to stuff way too many things into one sausage casing. The result is something tough to chew, sometimes bland, and slow to digest.

In this novel, BK was fixated on long conversations while the characters are shopping. There was one with Cub and Dellarobia in the dollar store, and another with Dovey and Dellarobia in th...more

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Aug 27, 2012 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-mt-bookpile

The author has a real point to make here: global warming is bad, logging is bad, they're killing the monarch butterfly population and Attention Must Be Paid. That message is interwoven with the story of Dellarobia Turnbow, a poor farmer's wife who used to have dreams of college and something better.

Dellarobia married Cub at 17, pregnant with his child. She miscarried, and rather than leave Cub and continue with her plans for college she stays, eventually having Preston and Cordelia. One day, thi...more

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Aug 03, 2012 switterbug (Betsey) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When I first heard the title to Barbara Kingsolver’s seventh novel, I thought of airplanes. Such is the orientation of the 21st century. Well, prepare to step into the rural, economically depressed farming and sheepherding town of Feathertown, Tennessee, where the shepherds flock on Sundays to commune with Pastor Bobby Ogle, their beloved and kind preacher and spiritual leader. This is the kind of repressed, technologically challenged community who believes that weather is determined by God, not...more When I first heard the title to Barbara Kingsolver’s seventh novel, I thought of airplanes. Such is the orientation of the 21st century. Well, prepare to step into the rural, economically depressed farming and sheepherding town of Feathertown, Tennessee, where the shepherds flock on Sundays to commune with Pastor Bobby Ogle, their beloved and kind preacher and spiritual leader. This is the kind of repressed, technologically challenged community who believes that weather is determined by God, not by science, and that the past year’s flooding was decreed by the heavens and can only be reversed by prayer.

In this story, the survival techniques of the Monarch butterfly, those bright orange, delicate but hardy creatures, and that of a diminutive, flame-haired young woman are inextricably intertwined and analogous. The Monarchs have had an atypical flight behavior this year. Floods and landslides led to felled trees everywhere in their usual roosting place in Mexico. Subsequently, they migrated to Feathertown to overwinter. Why Feathertown? That’s the big question that one team of scientists comes to examine. However, they are challenged by the residents, who are skeptical of science-based answers to climate-based questions. In the meantime, residents of Feathertown need to fill their coffers.

Dellarobia Turnbow, 27, has her own kind of flight behaviors, spurred on by too much domestic confinement too soon, and now she is primed to flee, restive—flying from pillar to post, as her mother always said. Unlike the rest of the townspeople, she wasn’t as inspired by religion.

“She was a…911 Christian: in the event of an emergency, call the Lord…Jesus was a more reliable backer, less likely to drink himself unconscious or get liver cancer. No wonder people chose Him as their number one friend. But if the chemistry wasn’t there, what could you do?”

Married in a shotgun wedding ten years ago, she lost a preemie before having two more children. Her husband, Cub, is a large, docile and complacent man, controlled and essentially managed by his mirthless parents. Dellarobia knows that to live in this town is to be under a microscope; she was the untamed child once, and that wildness is rearing its head again, her dormancy coming to an end.

The first chapter, “The Measure of a Man,” is the catalyst for both Dellarobia’s evolution and the arc of the story. (If you want to experience it fresh and unspoiled, avoid reading the jacket blurb.) Kingsolver’s time-honored talent for yoking the struggle and turmoil of man with the flux and beauty of nature is vividly drawn. She builds the final, dramatic scene of the chapter to a man/nature composition that is at once distilled and dynamic, serene and dramatic. Abundant, also, are Biblical allusions that reflect the community’s ethos.

Kingsolver is an agent of social change. She established the Bellwether prize in literature in order to award writers who effect change for the good of humanity. She is also a scholar with postgrad degrees in biology and environmental science. You are going to encounter a stout measure of activism in her writing, covering such issues as the degradation of the planet and its natural resources and the contentious class system of society. If her political evocations have bothered you in the past, they are likely to bother you here, too.

Nevertheless, the author weaves in her social issues with finesse, for the most part, and her vivid portrait of Feathertown is sympathetic and informed. Initially, she seems to lampoon the pious, science-fearing populace, but she gradually tenders the reader to an understanding of the religious community. She slowly develops dialogue between urban, rural, and academic minds and concerns. The biblical allusions are also ripe and fitting, relevant to the inhabitants of Feathertown and the way they see the “miracle” of nature. Dellarobia represents a connection between both worlds.

This is the second book I have read that highlights the migratory patterns and survival modes of the Monarch butterfly, and braids in the journey of self-actualization and coming to terms with loss. Sanctuary Line, by Jane Urquhart, is also socially and environmentally conscious, and is an apt companion piece to this book.

The clash of family, science, religion, media, politics, and environment takes Dellarobia on a quest beyond the emotional and intellectual borders she has known all her life, on a journey of discovery and transformation. Like a butterfly out of the chrysalis, she must follow the path of her future.

4.5 stars(less)

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Nov 06, 2012 Christina (A Reader of Fictions) rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arc

I love Barbara Kingsolver. All of her books automatically go on my to-read list, because she's brilliant. One of the things I love about her is how unique her books are from one another. She writes different kind of characters in disparate environments and focuses on varying themes. I find it so impressive when authors can reinvent themselves so often. Flight Behavior is my fourth Kingsolver book. Unfortunately, unlike the others, this one failed to meet my expectations.

My first Kingsolver read...more I love Barbara Kingsolver. All of her books automatically go on my to-read list, because she's brilliant. One of the things I love about her is how unique her books are from one another. She writes different kind of characters in disparate environments and focuses on varying themes. I find it so impressive when authors can reinvent themselves so often. Flight Behavior is my fourth Kingsolver book. Unfortunately, unlike the others, this one failed to meet my expectations.

My first Kingsolver read was The Bean Trees, which centers around a girl desperate to get out of her small, hick town where most of the girls are pregnant before they even leave high school. She wants to be one of the ones to leave and never come back. Through some odd circumstances, she finds herself stuck raising a baby that's not hers, sort of falling into motherhood. The plot itself didn't have much appeal for me as a reader, but the book was utterly compelling and I loved it so much. Kingsolver's powerful writing and intriguing, quirky characters pulled me in despite myself.

In Flight Behavior, Kingsolver again focuses on a heroine who had dreams of escaping her hick town, but this one didn't make it. Dellarobia hoped to go to college, but wound up pregnant instead. Even worse, the baby boy died, leaving her stuck in a marriage with a man she doesn't respect and reliant on judgmental in-laws. Her unhappiness manifests itself in a wandering eye; she has had a number of crushes on men, flirted with the idea of an affair. The hook of the novel is when Dellarobia heads up the mountain to meet with one of her men and cheat on her husband. On her way, she sees the forest burning with butterflies, and interprets that as a sign from God that she needs to go back to her life and make good.

Dellarobia's life certainly is unfortunate, and it's such a shame that her promise was wasted on this small town, where kids only take two years of rudimentary math in school. Even the bright ones aren't given enough education to be able to get out of town. I feel for her, but I didn't connect with her or any of the other characters. In all of Kingsolver's previous works, I was held rapt in unfamiliar worlds by the power of the characters and the writing, but these characters simply failed to grab onto my heart and take hold.

Another problem too is that, while the writing is beautiful as always (and shows that you can not write in dialect but still achieve a southern feel), the story feels a bit like a combination of two of the Kingsolver books I'd previously read: The Bean Trees and Prodigal Summer. Revisiting old themes, while not what I know Kingsolver for, can be done well, but, in this case, it felt repetitive and less well done.

Flight Behavior feels like it was written not so much for the characters as to be the vehicle for a message: global warming is real and it's not just about changing temperatures. Now, of course, it's alright for books to have a moral, a message, but I don't like to feel like I'm being beat over the head with it or being talked down to.

The butterflies Dellarobia witnessed normally wintered in Mexico, but moved to her small town because of environmental changes and now the whole population of Monarch butterflies could be in danger of extinction. A lepidopterist comes to study them, and works with and teaches Dellarobia, highlighting her boredom with her husband and her desire for something bigger. Because of her rudimentary education, the reader receives both the scientific explanations for everything and the 'country' version, a cute little metaphor for everything that's happening. This felt a bit insulting to me, as though this setting was chosen to allow for global warming to be explained in a simplified way that the stupid disbelievers could fathom. Prodigal Summer also dealt with the importance of taking care of the environment, but did not make me feel so lectured.

Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh, but I'm disappointed to have not enjoyed a book by one of my favorite authors. Her writing is still gorgeous, but the book is massive, slow, and filled with a lot of minutiae about Dellarobia's life I could have done without. Surely others will appreciate this one (most of the reviews on Goodreads are highly flattering and NPR approves), but it fell flat with me.(less)

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Aug 09, 2012 Jill rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Barbara Kingsolver is one of those rare writers with whom you know what you are getting before you open the first page.

You know, for example, that the prose is going to be literary, dense, and luscious (take this descriptive line: Summer’s heat had never really arrived, nor the cold in turn, and everything living now seemed to yearn for sun with the anguish of the unloved.”) You know that the content will focus on some kind of social justice, biodiversity, or environmental issue. You know, too,...more Barbara Kingsolver is one of those rare writers with whom you know what you are getting before you open the first page.

You know, for example, that the prose is going to be literary, dense, and luscious (take this descriptive line: Summer’s heat had never really arrived, nor the cold in turn, and everything living now seemed to yearn for sun with the anguish of the unloved.”) You know that the content will focus on some kind of social justice, biodiversity, or environmental issue. You know, too, that at some point, Ms. Kingsolver will cross the line into authorial intrusion based on her passion for the subject she is writing on.

But you keep coming back for more. At least, I do. There is something mesmerizing about a Barbara Kingsolver novel, and something refreshing about a writer who combines a solid scientific background with stunning prose.

This book is entitled Flight Behavior, and for good reason. It opens with a young Appalachian woman – Dellarobia Turnbow – ready to take flight from her shotgun marriage and closed-in life with two young children. On her way up the mountain to engage in an affair, she views an astounding natural phenomenon that changes everything for her.

The core of the novel focuses on that phenomenon,centering on the migratory patterns of the bright orange Monarch butterfly, usually viewed only in Mexico. The topic is climate change and Ms. Kingsolver slashes through the obtuse definitions with language anyone can understand. Dellarobia is paired thematically with a Harvard-educated scientist Ovid Byron, whose lifework is studying the butterflies. He says, “If you woke up one morning, Dellarobia, and one of your eyes had moved to the side of your head, how would you feel about that?” That, in effect, is the same as the butterflies migrating to Appalachia.

There is much to love about this novel. Dellarobia is authentically portrayed: a woman who is confined in a life she has outgrown, complete with two very genuinely created toddlers and a best friend who is not similarly constrained. The duality of science and religion is also tackled. While Barbara Kingsolver makes no secret of how she feels about those who piously say, “Weather is the Lord’s business” while polluting our environment, she also concedes to the majesty and mystery of nature, culling in parallels from Job and Noah.

Ultimately, Ms. Kingsolver leaves us with the most important question of all: “what was the use of saving a world that had no soul left in it. Continents without butterflies, seas without coral reef…What if all human effort amounted basically to saving a place for ourselves to park?” The interconnectedness of all nature’s creatures – and our true place in our own lives and in the lives of the universe – is a message that lives on in this reader’s mind long after the last page is closed.

(less)

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Feb 09, 2013 Steve Lindahl rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Barbara Kingsolver has included a number of plot threads in her novel Flight Behavior, about subjects she cares about, including the primary one - climate change. Flight Behavior is more than either a story to get lost in or a carefully researched non-fiction book, because it is both and, to use a cliché, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The plot threads include: someone living a life that is less than her potential, bigotry against country culture, and the way the world is affect...more Barbara Kingsolver has included a number of plot threads in her novel Flight Behavior, about subjects she cares about, including the primary one - climate change. Flight Behavior is more than either a story to get lost in or a carefully researched non-fiction book, because it is both and, to use a cliché, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The plot threads include: someone living a life that is less than her potential, bigotry against country culture, and the way the world is affected by climate change. These subjects seem unrelated, but Kingsolver makes them work together.

The novel opens with Dellarobia Turnbow walking up a mountain to throw her marriage away on an affair with an attractive telephone lineman. But along the path she encounters something that changes her life, thousands of Monarch butterflies wintering in southern Appalachia. When news of this event spreads to the people of Feathertown, most of the residents take it to be a miracle sent from God. The word spreads further than that small town and soon a scientist named Ovid Byron shows up to study the butterflies. Dellarobia's relationship with that man and with the event that brought him to her changes her life.

Dellarobia lives with her husband, Cub, and their two children in a house on land belonging to her in-laws. Prior to the arrival of the butterflies her life consists of taking care of the kids and shopping at second hand shops and dollar stores. Early in the novel Dellarobia thinks she's been named after a hand crafted wreath, something she isn't proud of. But she discovers later on that della Robbia is the name of a fifteenth century sculptor. Dellarobia's name is a great metaphor for her life, how she is much more than she thought she was.

One of my favorite quotes from the novel comes from a conversation between Ovid and his wife, Juliette. They are speaking about Dellarobia's theory concerning the reasons why many country people doubt that climate change exists. Ovid says, “Climate change denial functions like folk art for some people, a way of defining survival in their own terms.” Juliette's reply is that she had always thought the attitude came from “Corporate mantras via conservative media.” There is probably truth in both points, but Ovid's is less simplistic and respects the people of Appalachia for having the ability to come up with their own ideas.

I love Barbara Kingsolver's writing and her activism. This book is one of her best.

Steve Lindahl - author of Motherless Soul(less)

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Feb 07, 2013 Dhitri rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, eco-fiction, barbara-kingsolver

Climate change, the single most important issue of our time, is one of those themes that are so vast, packed with complicated scientific concepts, obscured by political debates and made even more confusing by irresponsible media reporting, that any attempt to narrate a story that is remotely linked to it becomes an act of bravery. Barbara took the challenge a step further; she has set her story in the Bible Belt; where views on this particular issue collides the strongest but where also stereoty...more Climate change, the single most important issue of our time, is one of those themes that are so vast, packed with complicated scientific concepts, obscured by political debates and made even more confusing by irresponsible media reporting, that any attempt to narrate a story that is remotely linked to it becomes an act of bravery. Barbara took the challenge a step further; she has set her story in the Bible Belt; where views on this particular issue collides the strongest but where also stereotypes and beliefs are ingrained and firmly held and created the most unusual and intriguing stage for her tale: A forest filled with Monarch butterflies.

The story goes like this: Dellarobia is a mum of two and an unhappy country wife. Her marriage was made in a haste at a young age and ever since she has been living on her husband's family farm, where she is treated more like an accesorry and nuisance rather than as a family member by her in laws. Her life began to unravel when she discovered that millions of Monarch butterflies have migrated into her backyard, turning it into a national sensation and a scientific curiosity. The discovery set off a chain of events that will open her eyes and the eyes of many around her to the alarming circumstances that the and her personal world are facing. The brilliance lies in the fact that the threats of climate change were all revealed and made clear to Dellarobia in a way that was matter-of-fact, unlike climate change alarmism that is has grown tiring. The ground beneath her feet soon started to shift and Dellarobia is faced with having to make important decisions for her future and the future of her children.

Kingsolver took her biological science background, mastery of prose and insight into the human psychology to create one of the best storytelling built around the man versus human narration that I have ever come across. This is a book about how worlds shift, both that of the internal and the external, and that is slow, gradual, stirring, but once it reaches a point of no return, the changes manifests itself dramatically and forcefully in eruptions of beauty and tragedy woven into one. Instead of littering the story with science mumbo jumbo seeking authenticity, here is an author that explains ecologically not only in a very simple and digestible manner, but does it so beautifully that invokes the reader's appreciation for science and nature.

Her characters are convincing and make lasting impressions; their stories are relatable and while they may start very stereotypical or caricaturish, Kingsolver is very good at peeling the layers one by one to reveal their true personalities. Dellarobia as the main character carried the story very well; I felt for her, I empathise with her regrets, sorrows, desires and needs, perhaps because I, too, am a mum and wife. Kingsolver also nailed all of Dellarobia's reflections on marriage, childbearing, girlish desires and personal ambitions on the head. I must say I am occassionally annoyed at some of her habits, her hesitation, her naivety and more, but in the end the author managed to create a character that grows on you and admittedly you do want to see her win.

She has done very well with all of the other key characters, too - we see them through Dellarobia's eyes and with every turn of the page they shed their stereotypes and subtly but firmly establish real human presence in the story, leaving lasting impression. Interaction between them, too, grow more complicated, as human interactions invariably, do. There are no bad guys here; human needs, desires have been blurred the line between good and bad, triggered by opportunity and natural forces. It represents the true story behind reports of ecological and environmental occurences, unlike the the classic take by headline chasing mainstream media going for either the "miracle" angle or the "freak of nature" angle.

The plot is simple and to some extent is predictable, but it's truly the storytelling that blew me away. The prose is lyrical, especially at the beginning and end. It sort of lends a biblical quality to it, which I am sure was Kingsolver's intention. Consistent with that style, each act and event are carefully crafted as an analogy linked to something bigger. They are masterfully interwoven to reveal new information, to introduce new plot twists, and I know I have been using this word way too many times, in a very skilled, precise way. A testament to Kingsolver's masterful storytelling. I particularly liked the ending - though, again, I saw it coming as it was fairly predictable - the bigger themes slowly fade into the background as Dellarobia embraces the changes, her new reality.

At that point the book had me ponder some of the important questions raised regarding man's relationship to nature. It has no doubt impacted the way I perceive certain ecological and social aspects related to climate change. I realised this was the book I wanted to write if I were to ever become an author. This is why this book is in my list of all time favorites and should be considered an instant classic. Highly recommended. (less)

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May 19, 2013 Lisa Hall added it · review of another edition Recommends it for: science and contemporary literature fans

Shelves: audiobooks

Working on my own review but in the meantime these are the words of another reader, Will Byrnes, an insightful and careful reader who's opinion I agree with (& wish I could write as well he):

"We see this world through the main character eyes. Dellarobia makes a careful examination of her life, in an environment in which unexamined is the way to go. She is a bright woman of 27, married as a result of an adolescent mistake to a decent, if unimaginative man, with two kids, staying in a small h...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Mimi Jones rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Intelligent and lyrical story about climate change literally coming to roost in a small Tennessee town.

Dellarobia Turnbow, married mother of two, is on her way to an assignation with a cute telephone repair guy in a shack on the mountain when she stumbles upon the miraculous sight of an expanse of shimmering orange, flamelike but not fire. IT turns out to be millions of monarch butterflies, come to a new wintering spot in Northeastern Tennessee after their usual roost in Mexico has been destroye...more Intelligent and lyrical story about climate change literally coming to roost in a small Tennessee town.

Dellarobia Turnbow, married mother of two, is on her way to an assignation with a cute telephone repair guy in a shack on the mountain when she stumbles upon the miraculous sight of an expanse of shimmering orange, flamelike but not fire. IT turns out to be millions of monarch butterflies, come to a new wintering spot in Northeastern Tennessee after their usual roost in Mexico has been destroyed by mudslides caused by overlogging. Dellarobia takes this vision as a sign that infidelity is not the way out of her mismatched and loveless marriage, and heads back down home to tell people what she has seen. The press descends, and scientists come, led by Ovid Byron, a handsome black Virgin Islander who camps out in a trailer with his grad students on the Turnbows' property. Dellarobia becomes an assistant in his lab and gradually finds herself separating from the people she has grown up with. As she explains to Dr. Byron, people around her parts deny human-caused global warming because they have sorted themselves into one team, with the scientists and other privileged outsiders on the other. "The environment got assigned to the other team," she tells him. "Worries like that are not for people like us. So says my husband." Their worries run more along the lines of how to cover the note on the balloon mortgage coming due on some farm equipment, and whether they should allow a logging company to scalp the hillside above their farm so that they can make the payment, and how to give their children a happy and hopeful childhood despite living on the sharp edge dividing survival from destitution.

In the end, the "butterfly effect" will change Dellarobia's life completely.

Engrossing, thought-provoking, well-researched. It felt a little long, and Dellarobia is at times unconvincingly sharp and articulate for someone who just squeaked by with her high school diploma before she had to get married and went to work as a waitress. But you care about her. I have never read a Barbara Kingsolver book that I didn't feel better for having read.

(less)

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Feb 01, 2013 Debra rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am a fan of Kingsolver's having enjoyed The Poisonwood Bible and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, but not so much Prodigal Summer. I started Flight Behavior with mixed feelings. I still have them. She writes of a rural family similar to some of mine who become a part of a climate change phenomenon. Though this phenomenon is far-fetched, it captures the imagination & includes one of the top ten things I would like to witness in my life that I haven't yet.

Sometimes her language of the rural fami...more I am a fan of Kingsolver's having enjoyed The Poisonwood Bible and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, but not so much Prodigal Summer. I started Flight Behavior with mixed feelings. I still have them. She writes of a rural family similar to some of mine who become a part of a climate change phenomenon. Though this phenomenon is far-fetched, it captures the imagination & includes one of the top ten things I would like to witness in my life that I haven't yet.

Sometimes her language of the rural families and friends is forced, and I cringe, but the story overrides those moments. At times, I feel the preachiness creep in, but again the plot and characters keep me involved. I do love when a do-gooder comes mid-novel with his pledge for everyone to sign to be good stewards of the earth & as he goes down the list of ways to conserve, the main character, Dellarobia, says we already do that to just about every item. When one lives close to the bone, one is conservative.

A couple of added bonuses for me--the lead scientist is from St. Thomas and tells about the reefs and turtles there, and his wife is a folklorist and tells about the history of the name of the phenom. Also the mother-in-law has some old ways of hunting mountainside plants that interest me. The AP English exam is even mentioned once! One more aside--Dellarobia's description of her high school education to the lead scientist from St. Thomas and his incredulity about a U.S. educational system and his own ability to overcome a weak educational system on St. Thomas was quite interesting to me. I had to reread that part 3 times (once out loud) and wonder how Kingsolver wrote that part so accurately.

The things I discussed above is not what makes the novel worth the time--it is the plot that kept me reading which I don't think usually does. I am much more drawn in with characters' thoughts. This time I wanted to know how this scientific marvel turned out. And husband, wife, raising children, dealing with the in-laws, family land disagreements, crazy friend tensions I know about and enjoy reading about these interactions intertwined with the marvel that occurs on the family land.(less)

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Jul 15, 2012 Sara rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Beautiful, moving, and articulate. Kingsolver has absolutely accomplished what she set out to do with this novel, that is, to write fiction that takes climate change for its backdrop--the first book of its kind, and momentous in doing such.

As Kingsolver puts it, poor, rural, Southerners are the people in the United States most likely to be affected by climate change. Unfortunately, they are also the demographic least likely to have any accurate information about what it is, and what that means f...more

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Dec 10, 2012 Anne rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, usa, 2012

A very difficult book to rate. I almost gave up on it, but became engaged around page 100. Though not completely engaged. It's just not that interesting, though some of the writing is very good. Not Kingsolver's best. 3 1/2 stars.

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Mar 23, 2013 LindaW added it · review of another edition

Shelves: at-library

Scheduled to be out Nov 2012! Can't wait!

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Jan 19, 2013 Sharon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved reading this novel while staying on a dairy farm at Johanna. The family in the novel are poor sheep farmers. The arrival of monarch butterflies to their farm brings many changes. The changes in family relationships make for an absorbing story. The butterflies should not be there and Dellerobia learns this is because of climate change. The farm people are suddenly thrust into celebrity status and scientists, journalists and protestors all find their way to the farm. The contrast of these...more

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Feb 12, 2013 Sheila Woofter rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I had a terrible time rating this book. In general, I love Barbara Kingsolver, and my experience is that readers either love or hate her. I was so looking forward to this, her newest novel... but I was disappointed. That said, there were many parts that I loved. As always, her prose is flawless and carries me away.

First of all, she makes Christians looks like idiots, as MANY authors do, although I have to admit that she had her moments of fairness. I have no idea if her portrayal of Tennessee A...more I had a terrible time rating this book. In general, I love Barbara Kingsolver, and my experience is that readers either love or hate her. I was so looking forward to this, her newest novel... but I was disappointed. That said, there were many parts that I loved. As always, her prose is flawless and carries me away.

First of all, she makes Christians looks like idiots, as MANY authors do, although I have to admit that she had her moments of fairness. I have no idea if her portrayal of Tennessee Appalachian residents is accurate, but it seemed balanced. Dellarobia, the main character, was irritating to me -- smarter than everybody else and self-centered. And, my guess is that we were supposed to like her. I didn't.

Story-line regarding the butterflies was fascinating, and I'm assuming that since Ms. Kingsolver is a biologist, is well-researched. I liked Dr. Bryon and his crew, although they were quite 'understanding' and 'tolerant' and 'engaging' with the locals, I assume because they were so well-educated. Not necessarily an accurate picture of academics.

Surprisingly fair and generous was the revelation about Hester. And, there was a reason for the way she treated Dellarobia -- Hester knew she would skip. Hester didn't want to get attached to Dellarobia or the children because she knew they would leave her in the end. An understandable self-protection against loss. I ended up with much more affection for Hester than I would have thought.

What I hated most was the almost inevitable exit of Dellarobia from her 'I've-been-kept-back-from-what-I-deserve/I-need-my-education-because-I'm-smarter-than-everyone-else-around-me/there's-a-world-out-there-I-need-to-see' life. I just can't get my head around the idea that it is okay to break up a family - even good for it. I know I'm out of touch with modern thought, but I believe marriages are meant for the long-haul, and that if we change, we work through those changes for the betterment of the entire family. My heart ached for her children. And, I believe there was a different ending to the book had Ms. Kingsolver looked deeper.

All of my grousing aside, I did love the butterfly sections, as well many of the plot turns near the end. I will guarantee the reader that if you have trouble with the first half of the book, you will be page-turning engaged in the second half.(less)

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Jan 07, 2013 Suzanne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love and admire Kingsolver as an author. She had me at The Bean Tree. When I began Flight Progression, I was immediately taken with the names of characters: Dellarobia(I thought of the blue pigment on my water color pallette), Ovid, Byron, Hester, Cordelia, Preston. This is Appalachia. I expected Cub and Bear, short for Burley junior and senior. Of course, Kingsolver addresses these prejudices. Oh yes there's Pastor Ogle which is clearly oggle. Dellarobia points out the high road. There are so...more I love and admire Kingsolver as an author. She had me at The Bean Tree. When I began Flight Progression, I was immediately taken with the names of characters: Dellarobia(I thought of the blue pigment on my water color pallette), Ovid, Byron, Hester, Cordelia, Preston. This is Appalachia. I expected Cub and Bear, short for Burley junior and senior. Of course, Kingsolver addresses these prejudices. Oh yes there's Pastor Ogle which is clearly oggle. Dellarobia points out the high road. There are so many literary allusion, I found myself giggling.
Dovey, Dellarobia's best friend continually texted church marquee signs like "Moses was a basket case." This reminds me of Flannery O'Conner. The jokes were fast and fun.
The butterflies landed near Feathertown. Their nests were draping every tree and millions of monarchs filled the sky making the skeptical Dellarobia believe that she was witnessing a miracle. The day that she delivered a lamb was another miracle. The confidence she developed as she learned from Ovid is another miracle which teacher readers will be able to attest to.
Kingsolver did a great job showing the city,affluent reader, how the poor and the rural people are conserving and recycling in a much more serious way than those of us who take pride in recycling soda bottles and newspapers.
Dellarobia's personal crisises are many and often analogous to nature: sheep. butterflies, climate control, but sometimes derive from poverty, lack of education,etc.
Kingsolver has such a way with words. I can see Julia Roberts speaking truth about life in the hills. I can hear Sidney Poitier as Ovid Byron. Unfortunately they're too old. Meryl Streep could play Hester. The dialogue is still singing in my ear. We are southerners. We understand that macaroni and cheese is a vegetable." And "Seeing is believing.Refusing to look at the evidence, this is also popular." I've got about 60 high lights.
As I reread my review, I keep thinking the whole is equal to the sum of its parts. In this novel, I think the parts are greater than the whole.(less)

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Jan 18, 2013 Clare rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Despite the obvious parallels between the butterfly life cycle and the metamorphosis of the main character, Dellarobia, Kingsolver has managed to tell many stories here without hammering us with the symbolism. Married and pregnant at 17, ten years later Dellarobia is about to walk away from a marriage that should never have been. That she loves her children is obvious, but that doesn't mean she loves her life. She's on her way up the mountain for a tryst, to cross a line from which there can be...more

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Dec 07, 2012 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads, climate-change, fiction, tennessee

ARC received through the Goodreads First Reads program.

I have sat down to write this review at least 4 different times and I am having so much trouble! This is a wonderfully dense novel, which makes it difficult to explain. But it is well worth reading.

Barbara Kingsolver’s newest novel is a meditation on living in denial, both in the microcosm of one’s own life and in the macrocosm of being a resident of Earth. Dellarobia Turnbow is ready to throw her life with her husband Cub and their two chil...more ARC received through the Goodreads First Reads program.

I have sat down to write this review at least 4 different times and I am having so much trouble! This is a wonderfully dense novel, which makes it difficult to explain. But it is well worth reading.

Barbara Kingsolver’s newest novel is a meditation on living in denial, both in the microcosm of one’s own life and in the macrocosm of being a resident of Earth. Dellarobia Turnbow is ready to throw her life with her husband Cub and their two children away when she comes across a section of the forest behind her house where “every bough glowed with an orange blaze.” An uncountable number of monarch butterflies have settled in the woods of Featherton, Tennessee—disrupting their usual patterns, and disrupting the patterns of everyone else who becomes involved in “the miracle.”

Part of this novel deals with the large and globally significant issue of climate change. The butterflies are wintering in Tennessee rather than their usual grounds in Mexico. However, the Tennessee ecosystem (and climate) may not be equipped to support the insect population. Many are unconcerned by this, preferring to revel in the beauty of the insects, but visiting lepidopterist Ovid Bryon opens Dellarobia’s eyes to the broader implications. She finds it impossible to go back to seeing the butterflies as simply a thing of beauty, however much she might like to. The disruptions of her day-to-day by the fallout of the butterfly event also force her to take a closer look at the patterns of her own life, which she had previously not examined much, even if they caused dissatisfaction.

I haven’t even touched on Dellarobia’s in-laws, her children, or her best friend Dovey. They are significant, really! And their stories also tie into the denial theme! I just can’t find a good way capture everything in this review without essentially rewriting. There is that much going on. The book has already been written, and it is well worth reading.(less)

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May 03, 2013 Scott Stahl rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I cannot speak highly enough of this book. I understand why people love Kingsolver so much now. Everything felt so linked together, from the small-yet-monstrous family struggles to the massive-yet-invisible monster of climate change creeping up on all of us. I was consistently blown away page after page with perfectly stated sentences and overarching analogies and how she so cleverly illustrates our connection to our environments local and global. We are our environment and our environment is us...more

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Feb 17, 2013 Brenda Peterson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Barbara Kingsolver's best book, in my opinion, is The Poisonwood Bible. But this new novel with its rich details of Appalachian life, its courage to take on global warming in a down-to-earth narrative that offers engaging and sympathetic characters, is a close second. Read it for the humanity and poignant portrayals of a world changing and how everyday people are affected.

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Jan 08, 2013 Monica rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Holy fuck. That's a powerful ending.

I almost gave up on this book at first. Kingsolver brings us back to her homeland of Appalachia, where we meet Dellarobia, the main character, who feels trapped by her family life, her class, societal expectations, and Hestor, her evil-seeming mother-in-law. I didn't want to be in church with Hestor, either, but I kept reading. Warning: there's a lot of science in this book and probably more than you'll ever want to know about monarch butterflies, aka "king b...more

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Dec 03, 2012 Kaarina rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Kingsolver's writing, itself, is stellar, as always. As a friend of mine put it, "This book does for climate change what "The Help" did for the Civil Rights Movement."
The premise is there, but it's just not meaty enough. Because the writing is so wonderful, it's worth reading; even though the work on the topic doesn't go deep enough.

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Dec 23, 2012 Ricky rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Would like to give this one 3.5 stars. Didn't like it as much as I thought I would. Though her research is phenomenal and social messages important, I found her characters too pat and her story telling tiresome. I keep holding on to the author for her early novels, but I've been disappointed in her last three, though I like this one much better than Lacuna and Prodigal Summer. Not sure I will be as quick to put her next books on my must-read list.

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Feb 13, 2013 Amy Warrick rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Yes, Ms. Kingsolver knows her way around a pretty turn of phrase.

In this book, however, she uses her pretty language to dress up an unlikeable bitch and then she harangues us - on and on - about global warming, the sins of buying shoddy goods made overseas, the shameful state of rural education, hmmm, did I miss anything? People make SPEECHES in this book, as if it were conversation.

And then she has the less-bitchy friend of the bitch woman throw in old chestnuts from church bulletin boards,...more

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Jan 14, 2013 Doreen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Good, but not great. We expect so much from Kingsolver. I liked the characters, but felt she could have done more with some of them, like Cub, or the mother in law. Guess it would have had less focus on the global warming aspect, but maybe not...

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May 20, 2013 Helen rated it 5 of 5 stars

I picked up The Lacuna a couple of years came back when we chose it as a read for my book club, but didn't get very far. Being butterfly mad, and very concerned about climate change, this held more appeal, and it got me hooked from the first page. Kingsolver's handling of prose is masterly, although she is not sparse in her word count. I thought she balanced the story extraordinarily well with the science and was fascinated to learn more about Monarch butterflies. I found Dellarobia a sympatheti...more

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May 19, 2013 Ritu rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013

I loved this book. I listened to the audio book and heard Barbara Kingsolver narrate the story in her own voice - a voice that was so pleasant, personal,full of feeling. The story only became better in her voice.
The story was about a young woman named Dellarobia Turnbow who married when she was in high school because she was pregnant. She lived on a farm with her husband and her two children in a house built by her in-laws. They are quite poor and trying to make ends meet. Dellarobia seems to b...more

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May 15, 2013 Reagan Ramsey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Babs is back. She is, as usual, heavy-handed in her politics; but just compelling enough to get away with it (or maybe it’s that I agree with her this time? We’ll unpack that later). The book is about a rabble of butterflies—yes, I looked up the collective noun for butterfly...kind of surprising, huh?—who find an unlikely home in the trees of southern Appalachia. They are initially discovered by Dellarobia Turnbow, who came upon them en route to cheat on her husband and is chastened away by thei...more Babs is back. She is, as usual, heavy-handed in her politics; but just compelling enough to get away with it (or maybe it’s that I agree with her this time? We’ll unpack that later). The book is about a rabble of butterflies—yes, I looked up the collective noun for butterfly...kind of surprising, huh?—who find an unlikely home in the trees of southern Appalachia. They are initially discovered by Dellarobia Turnbow, who came upon them en route to cheat on her husband and is chastened away by their miraculous beauty.
Once the town figures out there are a million monarch butterflies living in their back yard, things get a little crazy. National news media, tourists, and the dreaded scientists. The problem is that these butterlies usually find a home in sunny Mexico this time of year…so the question is, why are they in north Carolina? Enter the merciless axe of climate change.
The book stars Dellarobia, and her character is well-written (as is the book in general) and complex, but the real story is that we have to do something about climate change. What I liked about the way Kingsolver handled it is that she appeals to the real reasons people believe many things they believe (and it's an unfortunate one): because their parents did. That’s not to say those things are wrong, but I liked how she attempted to cross over those lines of tradition by asking the questions in a different way.
Dellarobia is a metaphor for the “redeemable redneck”, the person who is genetically predisposed for ostrich-like stubbornness but in the end changes her mind. And Kingsolver is a bit unfair at times in her portrayal of these communities…not that they don’t exist somewhere, but they don’t represent the majority of the opposition. In other words, many many people would be willing to listen and understand the other side of the story if they had access to it. and someone else did it first. ;)
Overall, I think she presented the case in a compelling and entertaining way. You don’t have to agree with her on climate change to like the book, so kudos to her. Dellarobia is so likeable and funny that you start to relate to her, without all the secondhand sheets and tomato-red hair, of course.
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May 10, 2013 Golfmagic rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've read The Bean Trees, Animal Dreams, and Pigs in Heaven, too, and they were all fabulous. Since the AZ days, Kingsolver seems to have moved East and set her books there. These are less engaging for me, and I don't know if it's because it's the setting or if she is moving to different themes (though I suspect it's the latter).

I LOVED Poisonwood Bible. One of my favorite books of all time. Since then I have read Prodigal Summer (which I would give maybe 4 stars) and Flight Behavior. So althoug...more I've read The Bean Trees, Animal Dreams, and Pigs in Heaven, too, and they were all fabulous. Since the AZ days, Kingsolver seems to have moved East and set her books there. These are less engaging for me, and I don't know if it's because it's the setting or if she is moving to different themes (though I suspect it's the latter).

I LOVED Poisonwood Bible. One of my favorite books of all time. Since then I have read Prodigal Summer (which I would give maybe 4 stars) and Flight Behavior. So although I'm giving this 3 stars, it was a real disappointment compared to what I was expecting.

I agree with some other reviewers here in that it was WAY too preachy. There were diatribes presented as dialogue. In addition, I agree with another reviewer that the shopping scenes were pretty boring. Long conversations that were just meandering and seemingly pointless, which made the book long and left me waiting for something to actually happen. The friend, Dovey, was pretty one-dimensional.

On the plus side, I loved some of the scenes where Kingsolver revealed the class privilege of some of the environmentalists (and thus the real, abject poverty of the rural folks, which continued to strike me as heavy, deep poverty). In this vein, the best scene in the book was when one environmentalist is giving the rural protagonist (Dellarobia) a list of ways to "save the earth," so that "you people can get on board." It's beautifully done in that everything on the list is a middle-class luxury ("bring tupperware to restaurants to bring home your leftovers" and "unplug your computer monitors") that doesn't apply to the rural poor. I loved that scene. The scenes with the kids were also very well done. The writing was authentic and I grew to really love the kids' personalities without all the saccharine (sp?) sweetness some writers infuse into their child characters.

I was fairly frustrated with the Dellarobia's lack of maturity (wandering eye; fantasizing about *totally* unavailable men), but I suppose that's her character arc. She does get over that.

All in all, a fairly enjoyable read, but could've been 25% shorter.

(less)

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About Barbara Kingsolver

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 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, and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, a non-fiction account of her family's attempts to eat locally.

Her work often focuses on topics such as social justice, biodiversity, and the interaction between humans and their communities and environments. Each of her books published since 1993 have been on The New York Times Best Seller list. Kingsolver has received numerous awards, including the UK's Orange Prize for Fiction 2010, for The Lacuna and the National Humanities Medal. She has been nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Pulitzer Prize.

In 2000, Kingsolver established the Bellwether Prize to support "literature of social change."

Kingsolver was born in Annapolis, Maryland in 1955 and grew up in Carlisle in rural Kentucky. When Kingsolver was seven years old, her father, a physician, took the family to the former Republic of Congo in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Her parents worked in a public health capacity, and the family lived without electricity or running water.

After graduating from high school, Kingsolver attended DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana on a music scholarship, studying classical piano. Eventually, however, she changed her major to biology when she realized that "classical pianists compete for six job openings a year, and the rest of [them:] get to play 'Blue Moon' in a hotel lobby." She was involved in activism on her campus, and took part in protests against the Vietnam war. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 1977, and moved to France for a year before settling in Tucson, Arizona, where she would live for much of the next two decades. In 1980 she enrolled in graduate school at the University of Arizona, where she earned a Master's degree in ecology and evolutionary biology.

Kingsolver began her full-time writing career in the mid 1980s as a science writer for the university, which eventually lead to some freelance feature writing. She began her career in fiction writing after winning a short story contest in a local Phoenix newspaper. In 1985 she married Joseph Hoffmann; their daughter Camille was born in 1987. She moved with her daughter to Tenerife in the Canary Islands for a year during the first Gulf war, mostly due to frustration over America's military involvement. After returning to the US in 1992, she separated from her husband.

In 1994, Kingsolver was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from her alma mater, DePauw University. She was also married to Steven Hopp, that year, and their daughter, Lily, was born in 1996. In 2004, Kingsolver moved with her family to a farm in Washington County, Virginia, where they currently reside. In 2008, she received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Duke University, where she delivered a commencement address entitled "How to be Hopeful".

In a 2010 interview with The Guardian, Kingsolver says, "I never wanted to be famous, and still don't, [...:] the universe rewarded me with what I dreaded most." She says created her own website just to compete with a plethora of fake ones, "as a defence to protect my family from misinformation. Wikipedia abhors a vacuum. If you don't define yourself, it will get done for you in colourful ways."(less)

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“Mistakes wreck your life. But they make what you have. It's kind of all one. You know what Hester told me when we were working the sheep one time? She said it's no good to complain about your flock, because it's the put-together of all your past choices.” — 10 people liked it

“They all attended Hester's church, which Dellarobia viewed as a complicated pyramid scheme of moral debt and credit resting ultimately on the shoulders of the Lord, but rife with middle managers.” — 7 people liked it

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