BOOK REVIEW: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Demon Copperhead… gripping, heart-wrenching, tragic, compelling, tossed with bits of humor, because otherwise, it would have not been as heartbreaking.  Demon born into poverty: horrific conditions, father dead, addicted mom… talk about ACEs,  Adverse Childhood Events!  This kid has everything going against him!  Add to these circumstances, lived with neighbors, eventually placed in foster care (with some who only took kids in for the money and/or to make the kids work for their farm or whatever), in a couple of foster homes Demon was treated worse than an unwanted wandering animal waiting for PAWS to come by and pick him up, tormented in school by the classmates, foraging through trash to get food for sustenance.  How in the world would Demon make it out of the poverty and tragedy that he was born in through no fault of his own!  There are enough interesting characters who come and go, some who stay, some who are there for the long haul.  Humor is present at just the perfect time.  I guess if there was no humor, I am not sure these characters could have made it through their circumstances.  Demon Copperhead is not an easy kid to forget.  He will live in my heart for a long while.

What I am most sickened about in this Pulitzer Prize winning book, is the Opiod epidemic that appears to have been planned all along for this area of the country, Appalachia.  I am scratching my head over this.  I believe the big pharma companies have paid some restitution.  But throwing money in any amount will never be enough for the lives taken and ruined from these amazing folks who live in this most beautiful and for me, sacred, part of these United States.