A harrowing coming-of-age story set in Appalachian Virginia during the beginning of the opioid crisis. This book is a retelling of David Copperfield, which I think I read several decades ago but don’t remember very well. Overall, reading this book was like trudging through a swamp (in a good way). It’s brutally heavy and sad, the tropes were a little much at times, but I picked it up and knocked it back one chapter at a time always in the hopes I’d get to one of the books hidden gems, the beautiful magical moments Barbara Kingsolver always weaves together so beautifully. At first I didn’t like the ending, but after sitting with it I think it suits the story and its recurring theme of hope in the face of the unknown and potentially awful.

Stori