Demon Copperhead in On The Same Page

Oct 11, 2022 Carolyn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley, 2022, netgalley-2022, contemporary, addiction, abuse

Barbara Kingsolver’s reworking of David Copperfield as a tale for our times is a masterful portrayal of what it can be like for a child to be born and grow up amongst the poorest and most marginalised in America today. Children who are labelled as society’s dregs and treated as if they are in some way lesser beings because their clothes are ragged and they are always hungry.

Damon Fields, nicknamed Demon Copperhead (for his red hair), is a child born to a single teenage mother living in a traile Barbara Kingsolver’s reworking of David Copperfield as a tale for our times is a masterful portrayal of what it can be like for a child to be born and grow up amongst the poorest and most marginalised in America today. Children who are labelled as society’s dregs and treated as if they are in some way lesser beings because their clothes are ragged and they are always hungry.

Damon Fields, nicknamed Demon Copperhead (for his red hair), is a child born to a single teenage mother living in a trailer, his father dead before his birth, in Lee County in the Virginian Appalachians. While his mother struggles with drug addiction and is in and out of rehab, Demon is also cared for by the kindly Peggot family next door, grandparents bringing up their own grandson whose mother is in prison. He learns to love the wild forests, to hunt and fish and what it’s feels like to be part of a large family. However, when he is ten, Demon’s world really falls apart when his mother marries an abusive man with no interest in raising a child. This is the start of a downhill spiral for Demon that leads to the nightmare of foster care, where he is expected to work to earn his keep, never given enough to eat or provided with bigger clothing as he grows. After he hits his lowest point, a change in fortune will find him in a better place but, with a baggage of neglect, abuse and poverty, he’s not equipped to weather the storms still to come and is in danger of repeating the cycle of addiction and poverty.

However, even at his lowest point Demon never loses his will to survive or to see the best in people. His ability to draw and conjure up superheros with the power to save the weak and downtrodden is his richest possession and along with his sense of humour and intelligence keeps him going in the toughest of times. This is a long book and I did find it slow down in the latter half when Kingsolver is fully laying out the causes and effects of the opiod crisis in America, particularly in marginalised populations, such as in poor rural areas where there is high unemployment and people are told they are worthless. However, sad and depressing Demon’s story is, it felt very real and hopefully will lead to better understanding of what it is to be caught up in poverty through no fault of your own, poorly educated and without hope and told you are worthless, with the lure of drugs one way to make it all go away for a while. Demon is a character I will not easily forget in this insightful and provocative novel. 4.5★

With thanks to Faber & Faber via Netgalley for a copy to read ...more

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Mar 16, 2023 Kristine rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2022-new-releases, challenge-52-in-2023, books-about-families-siblings-frien, award-winners, historical-fiction, fiction, grc-2023, challenges-books-tome-500, countries-usa-south, award-nom-wp-for-fiction-2023

Winner of 2023 PULITZER PRIZE

Demon Copperhead is the WINNER for 2023 WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION❣️ Well Deserved, Remarkable Book. Congratulations 🎉 Barbara Kingsolver

SHORT LISTED FOR WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2023❣️

Here is the list since the other Books Deserve Attention, Too:
1) Pod, Laline Paull
2) The Marriage Portrait, Maggie O’Farrell
3) Trespasses, Louise Kennedy
4) Fire Rush, Jacqueline Brooks
5) Black Butterflies, Priscilla Morris
6) Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver

6/14/23: I Will Annou ...more

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May 11, 2024 Colleen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

It’s in vain to recall the past, unless it works some influence upon the present. - Charles Dickens, David Copperfield

I said what everybody knows, n- is not a word to be used unless by assholes.

Water under a long bridge.

It’s safer knowing more about people than they know about you.

It’s football. Take that out of Higgs school, it’s like church with no Jesus. Who would even go?

I will personally ruin your life. Have a big time.

Where’s your lubricant for the stick up your ass?

Trust the road. Beca ...more

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Jun 06, 2023 Natalie [genreneutralreader] rated it liked it

I know the subject matter is very relevant today, but I struggle to read books about addiction. They are so dark!

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Nov 09, 2022 Candace rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobooks, az1-oprahs-book-club

"..you lie down with snakes,you get up with the urge to bite back." ...more

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Mar 08, 2025 Jelena rated it liked it

I’m struggling to rate this one properly. It’s a great story and beautifully written, characters are well developed and diverse. The story is very depressing and maybe I wasn’t in the right mood when I picked it up but I really struggled to get through the entirety of this one. This could have been a 5 star read had I been able to thoroughly immerse myself in it, but unfortunately will land at 3.5 stars for me at this time.

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