The Bean Trees - (Harper Perennial Deluxe Editions) by Barbara Kingsolver (Paperback)

About the Book

Barbara Kingsolver's 1988 debut novel is a classic workof American fiction. Now a standard in college literature classes across thenation, and a book that appears in translation across the globe, The BeanTrees is not only a literary masterpiece but a popular triumph anarrativethat readers worldwide have taken into their hearts. The Los Angeles Times calls The Bean Trees the work of a visionary....It leaves you open-mouthed and smiling. "

Book Synopsis

"The Bean Trees is the work of a visionary. . . . It leaves you open-mouthed and smiling." -- Los Angeles Times

A bestseller that has come to be regarded as an American classic, The Bean Trees is the novel that launched Barbara Kingsolver's remarkable literary career.

It is the charming, engrossing tale of rural Kentucky native Taylor Greer, who only wants to get away from her roots and avoid getting pregnant. She succeeds, but inherits a three-year-old Native American girl named Turtle along the way, and together, from Oklahoma to Arizona, half-Cherokee Taylor and her charge search for a new life in the West. Hers is a story about love and friendship, abandonment and belonging, and the discovery of surprising resources in seemingly empty places.

This Harper Perennial Deluxe Edition features beautiful cover art on uncoated stock, French flaps, and deckle-edge pages, making it the perfect gift book.

From the Back Cover

Clear-eyed and spirited, Taylor Greer grew up poor in rural Kentucky with the goals of avoiding pregnancy and getting away. But when she heads west with high hopes and a barely functional car, she meets the human condition head-on. By the time Taylor arrives in Tucson, Arizona, she has acquired a completely unexpected child, a three-year-old American Indian girl named Turtle, and must somehow come to terms with both motherhood and the necessity for putting down roots. Hers is a story about love and friendship, abandonment and belonging, and the discovery of surprising resources in apparently empty places.

Review Quotes

"The work of a visionary. . . . It leaves you open-mouthed and smiling." -- Los Angeles Times

"As clear as air. It is the southern novel taken west, its colors as translucent and polished as one of those slices of rose agate from a desert shop." -- New York Times Book Review

"An extraordinary good novel, tough and tender and gritty and moving." -- Anne Rivers Siddons

"So wry and wise we wish it would never end....The chatty, down-home audacity of Barbara Kingsolver's remarkable first novel hooks us on the first page." -- San Francisco Chronicle

"A major new talent. From the very first page, Kingsolver's characters tug at the heart and soul." -- Ms.

"An astonishing literary debut....For a deep breath of fresh air, spend some time in the neighborhood of The Bean Trees." -- Cosmopolitan

"Idealistic and exhilerating, The Bean Trees is a book that combines the most careful craft with a moral code that is loving and expansive." -- Philadelphia Inquirer

"This is the story of a lovable, resourceful 'instant mother, ' one who speaks, acts and learns for herself, becoming an inspiration to us all." -- Glamour

"This funny, inspiring book is a marvelous affirmation of risk-taking, commitment and everyday miracles...An overwhelming delight, as random and unexpected as real life." -- Publishers Weekly