I thought the first two-thirds of The Poisonwood Bible was one of the best books I've ever read. The problem was that Kingsolver kept writing beyond that.

Prodigal Summer didn't give me either the joys or the disappointments of The Poisonwood Bible. This new book is rally a collection of fine short stories about love and life, gains and losses. The stories are tenuously linked by time, place, fecundity, and family ties. If empathy has become a touchstone for me, the people in these stories are wonderfully successful creations. I was excited, scared, distraught, and befuddled with them. On one hand, there are a lot of qualities in these characters that I hope I possess. On another hand, I can't imagine making the choices those characters made -- none of them is me.

Kingsolver uses much of her power with words to describe natural things. She does it beautifully. I liked that part of the book too. She observes and describes better than I do. It's a treat for me to read and learn from her nature writing.

Prodigal Summer introduced me to some interesting people, told some interesting stories, and described some attractive landscape. I don't think there are big lessons to be learned, but these are enjoyable experiences in reading. I highly recommend them to you.