| Title | Pigs in Heaven |
| Author | Barbara Kingsolver |
| Copyright | 1993 |
| Type | Fiction |
| Length | 343 Pages |
| Finished Reading | April 13, 2024 |
| Notable | NY Times Best Seller LA Times Book Award for Fiction 2011 Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award Book 2 of 2 of the Greer Family series |
| Ratings | Personal: 4 Stars Amazon: 4.5 Stars (4,934 ratings) Goodreads: 4.0 Stars (63,725 Ratings |
It seems like every second book I’ve read over the past year or so is about kids in peril. I’ll be honest; when I first read a three sentence synopsis of this follow up to The Bean Trees I took Pigs in Heaven off my virtual shelf. But a comment on my review of The Bean Trees by friend and blog follower Gayle assured me it was okay. I’m glad she set me right. I read and love this novel.
When we left Taylor and Turtle in The Bean Trees, Taylor had adopted the little girl.
“This child is the miracle Taylor wouldn’t have let in the door if it had knocked. But that’s what miracles are, she supposes. The things nobody saw coming.”
Page 20
After Taylor and Turtle did something heroic and were seen on TV, Annawake Fourkiller, a lawyer in the Oklahoma Cherokee nation, takes notice. She investigates and discovers the adoption may not have been legal. (The Bean Trees covers those details). Both Taylor and Annawake have legitimate claims on Turtle. On the one hand, Taylor had rescued Turtle from an abusive situation in Oklahoma and is her mother. On the other hand, Native American children adopted out of their community often suffer a sense of loss and a lack of belonging. Annawake, and others of the Nation, think it is critical for both Turtle and Cherokee community that the adoption be nullified and the child returned. Going in I dismissed the Cherokee claims out of hand; but by the end I saw the more nuanced point of view. You’ll have to read the novel to see what happens, but I think you’ll be drawn into this
Themes of motherhood and community run throughout the novel. The event that kicks off the issues between Taylor and the Cherokee nation is when Taylor and Turtle help rescue Lucky Buster, an intellectually disabled young man, and reunites him with his mother. Along the way Taylor’s mother, Alice, leaves a loveless marriage in Kentucky to help Taylor and Turtle. Along the way she finds a new community. Wow! I haven’t even mentioned Barbie. Kingsolver is a master at showing the depth of love and the humanity of the characters.
The title refers to the constellation we call The Pleiades or Seven Sisters and the Cherokee call Pigs in Heaven. Early in the novel Alice thinks of her cousin, Sugar, who was photographed in front of a town sign that reads “Welcome to Heaven”; later we see the significance of the sign, the town and the constellation in establishing a community.
The primary thing that keeps me from giving this 5 stars is the final agreement borders on too coincidental. Neverthelesss, this is a great book and I highly recommend it. BUT! Read The Bean Trees first.
I’m glad you persisted!