They are both new to Vineland, both attempting to settle here with their families, and both seeking some kind of security whilst contending with an old and crumbling house which threatens to fall down at any moment. The story follows Willa Knox (in 2016) and Thatcher Greenwood (in 1870). It is exactly what you’d expect of Barbara Kingsolver, but it is also surprising and ambitious in scope, told through the voices of two characters living in Vineland, with over a century between them. It is a book which prises apart the building blocks of modern life – financial security, capitalism, family life – all based around the metaphor of a house that is falling down (both in the present and the past). Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver is an uncomfortable read at times.
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