Pigs in Heaven Heaven for Readers

'Pigs in Heaven,' copyright 1993, was reissued in 2004. I suppose it would be silly to hold my breath any longer-- obviously, there's no sequel, at least not yet. While Kingsolver's 'The Poisonwood Bible' garnered more press than this book, I think this book offers a great deal more.

In 'Pigs in Heaven' Kingsolver cooks up a complex and touching story in a melting pot with just enough oddball characters stirred in to add spice thanks to them, every chapter or so, you just might find yourself belching out a good laugh.

Kingsolver's characters are both likeable and flawed enough to seem real, and they alone are reason enough to read the book. Then there's the story to consider: it's a gut-wrencher, at least for a parent. Taylor Greer (introduced in The Bean Trees) finds out that her adoption of a mute child (who has since learned to talk, but not to trust) was in fact invalid--she has no rights as the mother of Turtle, her six-year-old child. So she takes off, hoping to out-run or out-last the investigation being conducted by the Cherokee nation's child welfare contingent. In the end, Taylor gets to keep the child. Well, sort of. And it's at the verrrry end, so it's hardly the "end" of the tale (hence my wistfulness that there's no sequel!). But I digress.

In another author's hands the plot might seem too neatly tied up in the end, but Kingsolver's characters and her unique manipulation of the language buys her a lot of reading time, in this bookworm's opinion. Consider some of these gems:

"..and he finds himself once again following the irresistible gravity of a woman." (sounds much nicer than, "and he followed her to the bedroom, doesn't it?)

"...a gesture that is all give and no take."

"...behaves like a tourist from another solar system who only read a toy catalog before arriving here. You can't argue with someone like that..."

Perhaps the most wonderful thing about Kingsolver's use of the language is that it is just like a flashlight that more carefully illuminates the story--it never gets in the way of the story. In my opinion, THAT is the magical, slippery quality that makes good writing great.

Pick up Pigs in Heaven, and then the rest of Kingsolver's books. Oh--and 'Bean Trees' IS a prequel to 'Heaven,' so if you're a real stickler for reading things "in order," you should pick up Bean Trees first. Still, in my opinion, Pigs is still an even better read.


Highly recommended.