Kathy Wilken
Like some of the other contributors I thought this was one of the best books I have ever read. The women find their own ways to survive, some laudable and other deplorable, but they do survive. And it's not just the women - some of the men are shown as strong and noble.
And I loved the vividness of the background, the story and the episodes within the story. Fantastic
patricia mcgeough
you can smell and touch Africia after oyu have read this book. It's wonderful1 It's about survival and how we all have our own ways of either ignoring problems and getting on with life, facing them and getting on with life, or letting them drag us down and not getting on with life. The women characters are strong and inspirational. This book is a must! You have to read it
Margaret Swift
This is one of the best books I've ever read.Rarely do we see into the minds and hearts of children and young people, and each daughter reveals her totally individual character with artless naivety and often astonishing insight. At the same time, we can read between the lines about the parents, about Africa,about other wonderful people in the book. Brilliantly written.
Delia Duncan
An avid reader of African literature written by Africans from all ethnic backgrounds, I have in the past tended to avoid novels written ABOUT Africa by non-African authors. The Poisonwood Bible is an exception: it is a skillfully constructed and marvellously told story which makes the reader ponder over imperialist intervention in Africa while at the same time allowing the reader to think about the personal fate of those involved, both insiders and outsiders. A fantastic read.
MIRIAM YOUNG
Covered many different life styles - second half better than the first
Helen T
The most wonderful book I have ever read. The first paragraph where she describes the forest, starting "Imagine a ruin so strange it must never have happened" and ending "This forest eats itself and lives forever" just had me holding my breath. As well as being a great story with characters so individual and believable she opened my eyes to a piece of important history - a wonderful book and I'm guessing a very special person wrote it.
Patricia Canizares
The Poisonwood Bible - wherever and however we find ouselves in life,we have an enormous power.At 56 years, the best book about women I have read yet
Shenaaz
This is easily one of my favourite books. Africa comes alive and jumps off the page through the experiences of the Price family. A brilliant and pleasurable read - Barbara Kingsolver is a genius.
Alex Lewis
Woolf said of "Middlemarch" that it was "the only novel in English written for grown up people". That was before this brilliantly constructed book. The individual voices speak their own truths, and combine to examine so many aspects of world economics, politics, prejudices, despair...and that gleam of beauty at the bottom of the box, which makes the horrors of opening it worthwhile.
Hazel Conway
This is a wonderful book;beautifully written, funny, sad, interesting, informative and set against the historical background of the struggle for independence in the Congo.
Adrienne Matzen
This book celebrates the different paths we women can take in our lives. Whether the mother, the homemaker, the businesswoman, or the academic, there is something special and powerful about all of us, and this book expresses that beautifully. The Poisonwood Bible made me feel proud to be a woman.
Helen Baillot
This book was crammed with the most amazing and inspirational female characters. It was a great read and while I was reading it the characters came to life so vividly that I would find myself wondering what they were up to even while I wasn't reading the book.
