I don't know why I don't like this author more than I do. I liked The Poisonwood Bible a lot, but my interest usually wanes in her other novels. I haven't read them all though, so I will stick to this one for now.
Set in Appalachia, this is the story of an unhappy young wife and mother, Dellarobia, who lives on a sheep farm with her husband and his parents. They are dirt poor, with a large balloon payment on their equipment coming due - with no money to pay it. Dellarobia comes across millions of Monarch butterflies one day, that have settled on their land, having left Mexico due to apparent climate change (too hot for them to survive). Unfortunately, although Appalachia doesn't get too hot for them, the fear is that it will become to cold for them to survive and they will die out. Enter the "scientist", Ovid, who has studied the Monarchs for the length of his career, and wants to continue to do so on Dellarobia's in-law's land.
So, this is a study in climate change and how it is affecting our world; a study of Monarch butterflies; a study in relationships: mother/child, husband/wife, friend/friend, unrequited love, unconditional love; unplanned pregnancies; and the search for a happier life.
All of the above, and yet I kept checking to see how many pages I had left to read.... This was simply not "gripping" enough for me. Maybe because I'm not on board with the "climate change" theory being brought on by man, believing that our world is constantly changing whether man is here or not. (That's not to say I don't care about taking care of our world!) Maybe because I love the Monarch butterflies and learning about their breeding and migratory patterns was interesting - but I'm not a butterfly scientist. Maybe because I'm not a big fan of authors who describe everything - especially scenery - in detail on every page. I would read another novel by Barbara Kingsolver....but not anytime soon.
Wendy's Rating: ***
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