[Review] The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Publishing Date: Oct 1, 1999
546 Pages
Format: paperback, purchased
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N
Goodreads rating: 1 star

Synopsis 

The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it -- from garden seeds to Scripture -- is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa. The novel is set against one of the most dramatic political chronicles of the twentieth century: the Congo's fight for independence from Belgium, the murder of its first elected prime minister, the CIA coup to install his replacement, and the insidious progress of a world economic order that robs the fledgling African nation of its autonomy.

My Review

I first heard of this book when I was at my aunt's house and she told me how much she liked it. So I borrowed it from her and started reading. I got about 1/3 or 1/2 way through and put it down. I can't remember exactly why I stopped reading it, if it was another book I picked up, lost interest, or what. But regardless, I had my aunt's copy a long time and I needed to give it back to her. So when I saw this at my local used book store, I picked up a copy for myself because I was really interested in reading it (and finishing it this time). 

My book club picked it for last month's read, so it was the perfect time to get back into it. But the problem was, I couldn't! It was a really slow start for me and I never really got into the story. I struggled to read it, often putting it down, and couldn't concentrate on the book when other things were going on, like my husband watching tv next to me. I didn't enjoy it at all. I found some of the characters to be annoying and their chapters dragged on for me. 

It's disappointing because I really wanted to like this book. Unfortunately, it didn't do it for me.