Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

February 16, 2023

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Demon Copperhead (nee Damon Fields) is born to a single teen-aged mother in the mountains of Appalachia, with few assets other than the good looks and coppery hair that he inherited from his absent (possibly dead) father. Demon's mother has a weakness for drugs and alcohol, as well as poor judgment when it comes to men. After her fatal overdose, Demon finds himself first tossed into the foster care system, then as a runaway on his own, exposed to all of the dangers of an adolescent without an adult to look after them.

An adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel David Copperfield: orphan forced out into the world on his own, far too soon, with no one to care for him. There are references throughout the text to Dickens' novel, including the neighbors who look after him sporadically named the Peggots (as opposed to Peggotty in David Copperfield). While her novels have been hit or miss for me, I enjoyed several of Kingsolver's previous books, including The Poisonwood Bible and Animal Dreams, so I was very much looking forward to reading her latest book. At first I was interested in the characters but my interest starting waning after a couple hundred pages, and by the time Demon gets into opiods, it had become pretty depressing and I was over it and skimmed the last 250 pages. I also didn't like the stereotypes of Appalachia and rural people. Disappointing.

David Copperfield