If the grown-up version of me could have one chance at walking backwards into this story, part of me wishes I could sit down on the back pew with that pissed-off kid in his overly tight church clothes and Darkhawk attitude, and tell him: You think you’re giant but you are such a small speck in the screwed-up world. Kingsolver occasionally reminds us that our narrator is an adult, but most of the time you feel like you’re right there with Demon as he grows and develops. Even though the narrator is clearly describing his life from the perspective of an adult, young Demon feels young, and teenage Demon sounds like a teenager. I always appreciate when an author can write from the viewpoint of a child and have it feel like you’re experiencing that child growing in maturity. Demon’s troubled childhood leads him down many dangerous paths he experiences great tragedy, but also kindness and inspiration. He’s fortunate to have kind neighbors who look after him, particularly after his mother begins seeing an abusive man. In Kingsolver’s story, Demon (born Damon Fields) is born to a single mother who struggles with addiction. Sadly, David Copperfield resonates today for a reason – children continue to be traumatized by poverty, abuse, and addiction, and the child welfare system typically lacks the resources needed to protect them. But Copperfield also resonates because it’s a story of struggle and courage and resilience, and Kingsolver transports this story perfectly into rural Virginia in the 1990s.
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