Unsheltered
Unsheltered is a 2018 novel by Barbara Kingsolver. It follows two families living in the same house at two separate time periods in Vineland, New Jersey. The novel alternates between the 21st- and 19th-century stories, using the last words of one chapter as the title of the next one.[1] One family lived in the house in the 1800s and one is there in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
Author | Barbara Kingsolver |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Language | American English |
Genre | Novel |
Publisher | HarperCollins |
Publication date | 2018 |
Pages | 464 |
ISBN | 978-0-06-268456-1 |
OCLC | 1019922367 |
Preceded by | Flight Behavior |
Plot
Major characters
21st century: Willa Knox - journalist Iano Tavoularis - PhD in anthropology, her husband Tig (Antigone) - Willa and Iano's daughter Zeke - Willa and Iano's son Nick - Iano's irascible father Dixie - the dog Helene - Zeke's wife, who committed suicide Aldus (Dusty) - Zeke and Helena's infant son Athena, Lita, and Irini - Nick's sisters Christopher Hawk - museum Curator Jorge - Neighbor boy, Tig's boyfriend
19th century: Thatcher Greenwood - BS in Biology Rose - his wife Mary Treat - neighbor (real-life naturalist, botanist, entomologist); next-door neighbor Polly - Rose's sister Aurelia - Rose's mother Captain Charles Landis - Vinland's founder, mayor and land agent Professor Cutler - principal of school where Thatcher teaches; toady to Landis Uri Carruth - editor of rival paper
Reception and awards
Writing in the New York Times, Meg Wolitzer, says this book "lures us into" this story about a house and the two different families that occupy it during two different periods of time.[1] Ilana Masad states in her NPR review that by the end of the novel "Kingsolver doesn't give us solutions, but she reminds us to take comfort in one another when we can, and that hope is necessary even when all seems lost."[2]
References
- Wolitzer, Meg (2018-10-19). "In Barbara Kingsolver's New Book, a Family Teeters on the Brink". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
- "Barbara Kingsolver Captures The Feeling Of Being 'Unsheltered'". NPR.org. Retrieved 2019-05-02.