Barbara Kingsolver

A Novel

Demon Copperhead

Alyssa C Smith

It hit me pretty hard, how there's no kind of sad in this world that will stop it turning. People will keep wanting what they want, and you're on your own.  

Show me your paycheck, I'll make a guess which floor. If you are making a rich person happy, or a regular person feel rich, aka better than other people, the money rolls. If it's lowlifes you're looking after, not so much. And if it's kids, good luck, because anything to do with improving the life of a child is on the bottom.

tiff

When your parent clocks out before you clock in, you can spend way too much of your life staring into that black hole.

The eye sees what it cares enough to see.

If you’ve noticed, it’s the prettiest people that everybody wants to believe, and next after that, the most wrecked.

my heart hurts sm for him DAMON GET BEHIND ME I WILL SAVE U

He asked if I had ever been so sad I wished I could go to sleep and not wake up. I said not really, I just usually went to sleep wishing I’d wake up in a different house. He said that was understandable.

I told her nobody ever asked me that question before, about growing up and what I wanted to be, so I didn't know. Mainly, still alive.

At the start of the service they did that song about Amazing God, and I felt exactly the opposite: I once could see but now I'm blind, was found but now I'm lost.

It hit me pretty hard, how there’s no kind of sad in this world that will stop it turning. People will keep on wanting what they want, and you’re on your own.

If I wanted to visit my parents, I would have to make little fake graves to leave behind me on my road to nowhere.

The first to fall in any war are forgotten. No love gets lost over one person's reckless mistake. Only after it's a mountain of bodies bagged we think to raise a flag and call the mistake by a different name, because one downfall times a thousand has got to mean something. It needs its own brand, some point to all the sacrifice.

Was this me now, for life? Taking up space where people wished I wasnt? Once on a time I was something, and then I turned, like sour milk.

"It's not your fault. You can't really help what's in your brain."

MY DAMON HE DOESNT DESERVE ALL THIS 😭😭

"Being dead is better than an orphan your whole fucking life."

i am a child i fearrr (constantly yaps and rants ab my problems on twitter)

The idea of people wanting at all times to hear your problems, that's a child thing.

I got up every day thinking the sun was out there shining, and it could just as well shine on me as any other human person.

Laura Dobie

Actual fact: you could make an entire second world out of what people throw away.

romey

They wanted payback. I thought about what Rose said, wanting to see the rest of us hurt, because she was hurting. You have to wonder how much of the whole world's turning is fueled by that very fire.

As it was, I might die of loneliness. How could I be here with all these familiar things but not the people that looked me in the eye and called me brother, or God love ya, or You're that one, or Honey I remember you from the feed store. To be here was to be known. If Lee County isn't that, it's nothing.

sina (she/her) 

Probably everybody has had some golden patch of life like that, where everything was going to be okay thanks to the people that had your back, and sadly you wasted it, by being ticked off over some ignorant thing like a busted TV.

Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. Relayed in his own unsparing voice, Demon braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.

I enjoyed this book way more that I thought I would. From the first line, I knew I would find this to be a modern literary classic. It's depictions of addiction are extremely accurate. I believe Kingsolver is extremely clever in the way that she showcases Demon's life and how the system fails him over and over again. Child services seems to work for a bit, but then his case worker "angel" Mrs. Barks goes away to get a better job. Personally, this is better for her, but it then leaves Demon with no one who cares and advocates for him. His new case worker takes weeks to get back to him and doesn't stand up for him when he's mistreated. She tells him he must do a better job standing up for himself when his foster parents don't give him what he needs- but how is a child to do that when his family refuses to give him food as he's hitting a growth spurt and forces him to get a job to live under the roof he's supposed to be entitled to?

Throughout the book Demon remarks also that people like to make up narratives about the why he and others in his community are in the position they are in. Early on he remarks that he has never seen a poisonous copperhead around, but everyone swears that they're in the woods. People see folks and their "bad choices", like his mother's "bad choices" and blame it on the individuals themselves without reflecting on the many decisions and systems that put them in their position in the first place. Its easier to judge when you don't stop to analyze and contextualize that these are people and these are the lives - and no one choice got them there and they're trying to make the best of it. "A 10 year old getting high - foolish children. This is what we're meant to say. Look at their choices, leading to a life of ruin. But lives are being lived right now this hour. Down between the dirty cracks of the tooth-brushed nighty-nights and the full grocery carts, where those words don’t pertain. Children, choices. Ruin, that was the labor and materials we were given to work with. An older boy that never knew safety himself, trying to make us feel safe. We had the moon in the window to smile on us for a minute and tell us the world was ours. Because all the adults had gone off somewhere and left everything in our hands." It's easier to call a child a Demon and look at him at face value in distain for the lot he got in life than to place the blame on the society who fails to care if people have access to the pursuit of happiness.

The first half of the book gripped me because of Demon's relationship with his mom and it being eerily familiar. It was heart wrenching to see this family's narrative play out. A teen mother desperate for friends and to fend off loneliness (and disregarding her son's well being as well as her own), and a son stepping in and taking the role of adult. "When your parent clocks out before you clock in- you can spend way too much of your life staring into that black hole," and Demon does having to navigate how to find shelter and find food when his mom ODs and he has no reliable care.

The scene in the diner when he talked to his mom and how she was optimistic about the future stuck a chord in me. He says his mom says he'll be the reason she sobers up, but he believes it will just start the same cycle again in a month. His internal monologue also questions why he is being given yet another responsibility by someone who should be taking care of him. If it doesn't work out does that mean "[he] wasn't a strong enough reason," to stay in this world or keep his family in tact? His mom is giving him "the superpower of getting and making her clean," when she should be taking responsibility and when Demon himself should be able to watch superheroes and see one that he loves take care of him. The theme of superheroes comes up a lot since they seem to be remarkedly absent in Appalachia, and Demon remarks this himself. And as if trying to cement this further, Demon's mother dies after leaving rehab due to another OD on oxy. At the funeral Demon wrestles with his mom's death. Though as a more mature narrator he has processed this, in the moment he wrestles with the thought that he wasn't a good enough reason for his mother to stick around. That depiction and monologue were moving and real. Demon remarks something that I felt I learned in a similar way, "how there is no kind of sad in the world that will stop it turning," the world goes on.

Demon Copperhead is a modern classic to me, and I could go on longer describing why and literary excerpts and themes I loved - but I'll stick to the ones above since they really hit home and made the book for me. I do think that after Demon's mother died for a bit I did think, "wow this is kinda turning into everything that could go wrong does, and this book is really veering into full on trauma dump as Demon speed runs to rock bottom." It eventually does stabilize but for several chapters after his mom's death I did start to question the immense misery he is put through - despite it depicting what many have to go through.

However, this is a book I loved and will plan to read again. I debated 4-5 stars, but I'm giving it five since its stuck with me.

Ashley Denktas

I enjoyed this book way more that I thought I would. From the first line, I knew I would find this to be a modern literary classic. It's depictions of addiction are extremely accurate. I believe Kingsolver is extremely clever in the way that she showcases Demon's life and how the system fails him over and over again. Child services seems to work for a bit, but then his case worker "angel" Mrs. Barks goes away to get a better job. Personally, this is better for her, but it then leaves Demon with no one who cares and advocates for him. His new case worker takes weeks to get back to him and doesn't stand up for him when he's mistreated. She tells him he must do a better job standing up for himself when his foster parents don't give him what he needs- but how is a child to do that when his family refuses to give him food as he's hitting a growth spurt and forces him to get a job to live under the roof he's supposed to be entitled to?

Throughout the book Demon remarks also that people like to make up narratives about the why he and others in his community are in the position they are in. Early on he remarks that he has never seen a poisonous copperhead around, but everyone swears that they're in the woods. People see folks and their "bad choices", like his mother's "bad choices" and blame it on the individuals themselves without reflecting on the many decisions and systems that put them in their position in the first place. Its easier to judge when you don't stop to analyze and contextualize that these are people and these are the lives - and no one choice got them there and they're trying to make the best of it. "A 10 year old getting high - foolish children. This is what we're meant to say. Look at their choices, leading to a life of ruin. But lives are being lived right now this hour. Down between the dirty cracks of the tooth-brushed nighty-nights and the full grocery carts, where those words don’t pertain. Children, choices. Ruin, that was the labor and materials we were given to work with. An older boy that never knew safety himself, trying to make us feel safe. We had the moon in the window to smile on us for a minute and tell us the world was ours. Because all the adults had gone off somewhere and left everything in our hands." It's easier to call a child a Demon and look at him at face value in distain for the lot he got in life than to place the blame on the society who fails to care if people have access to the pursuit of happiness.

The first half of the book gripped me because of Demon's relationship with his mom and it being eerily familiar. It was heart wrenching to see this family's narrative play out. A teen mother desperate for friends and to fend off loneliness (and disregarding her son's well being as well as her own), and a son stepping in and taking the role of adult. "When your parent clocks out before you clock in- you can spend way too much of your life staring into that black hole," and Demon does having to navigate how to find shelter and find food when his mom ODs and he has no reliable care.

The scene in the diner when he talked to his mom and how she was optimistic about the future stuck a chord in me. He says his mom says he'll be the reason she sobers up, but he believes it will just start the same cycle again in a month. His internal monologue also questions why he is being given yet another responsibility by someone who should be taking care of him. If it doesn't work out does that mean "[he] wasn't a strong enough reason," to stay in this world or keep his family in tact? His mom is giving him "the superpower of getting and making her clean," when she should be taking responsibility and when Demon himself should be able to watch superheroes and see one that he loves take care of him. The theme of superheroes comes up a lot since they seem to be remarkedly absent in Appalachia, and Demon remarks this himself. And as if trying to cement this further, Demon's mother dies after leaving rehab due to another OD on oxy. At the funeral Demon wrestles with his mom's death. Though as a more mature narrator he has processed this, in the moment he wrestles with the thought that he wasn't a good enough reason for his mother to stick around. That depiction and monologue were moving and real. Demon remarks something that I felt I learned in a similar way, "how there is no kind of sad in the world that will stop it turning," the world goes on.

Demon Copperhead is a modern classic to me, and I could go on longer describing why and literary excerpts and themes I loved - but I'll stick to the ones above since they really hit home and made the book for me. I do think that after Demon's mother died for a bit I did think, "wow this is kinda turning into everything that could go wrong does, and this book is really veering into full on trauma dump as Demon speed runs to rock bottom." It eventually does stabilize but for several chapters after his mom's death I did start to question the immense misery he is put through - despite it depicting what many have to go through.

However, this is a book I loved and will plan to read again. I debated 4-5 stars, but I'm giving it five since its stuck with me.

 took a couple tries for me to get sucked into, and i had to push through some frustration with the repetitive tragedy of it all…. that being said, i loved this one and am very grateful to my loved ones who pushed me to read and finish it. i do think speeding through demon copperhead was definitely the way to go, which is tough because it’s so damn long, but if you’ve got the time, do it that way. 

Esther Marie Mann 

good but it took a longggg time for me to read this book

stuu

Took me too long to finish this book because every chapter I would get so frustrated I would set the book down and glare at Barbara Kingsolver's name on the cover for a full five minutes. Putting a character through tragedy is not the same as writing a compelling story! Have we learned nothing from This Little Life? Kingsolver can write well and has some good sentences but people are definitely not telling her no enough.

Eli Alvah Huckabee

Throughout the entire experience, I could not get rid of the feeling that this novel wanted to become part of the literary canon so desperately that it actually forgot if it had something to say. It should have concerned itself a little less with being a retelling (?) of "David Copperfield" and quite a bit more with the intended messaging which I believe was about the poor rural (white) communities of America and how poverty perpetuates a cycle of misery.

The novel does nothing on that front, by the way. It neither gives emotional or personal depth to the characters and the above communities nor does it say that those people may be forced to make poor choices by their harsh circumstances or that they may not always contain great poetic depths within them but they are still worthy of respect and dignity. It notes but does not examine how society has left them behind and ostracised them and how this is the inevitable product of a capitalist society (or juxtapose it to the currently prevalent view among some communities that this is due to marginalised communities gaining equal rights).

Also, it does this thing where it aims for pretty poetic writing but presents the characters as the opposite. Even though this is a first-person narration.

Throughout the entire experience, I could not get rid of the feeling that this novel wanted to become part of the literary canon so desperately that it actually forgot if it had something to say. It should have concerned itself a little less with being a retelling (?) of "David Copperfield" and quite a bit more with the intended messaging which I believe was about the poor rural (white) communities of America and how poverty perpetuates a cycle of misery.

The novel does nothing on that front, by the way. It neither gives emotional or personal depth to the characters and the above communities nor does it say that those people may be forced to make poor choices by their harsh circumstances or that they may not always contain great poetic depths within them but they are still worthy of respect and dignity. It notes but does not examine how society has left them behind and ostracised them and how this is the inevitable product of a capitalist society (or juxtapose it to the currently prevalent view among some communities that this is due to marginalised communities gaining equal rights).

Also, it does this thing where it aims for pretty poetic writing but presents the characters as the opposite. Even though this is a first-person narration.

Poor Demon, really great story and wonderful characters. Incredible modern day Dickens retelling. 

Melodie

Demon's story begins with his traumatic birth to a single mother in a single-wide trailer, looking 'like a little blue prizefighter.' For the life ahead of him he would need all of that fighting spirit, along with buckets of charm, a quick wit, and some unexpected talents, legal and otherwise. In the southern Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, poverty isn't an idea, it's as natural as the grass grows. For a generation growing up in this world, at the heart of the modern opioid crisis, addiction isn't an abstraction, it's neighbours, parents, and friends. 'Family' could mean love, or reluctant foster care. For Demon, born on the wrong side of luck, the affection and safety he craves is as remote as the ocean he dreams of seeing one day. The wonder is in how far he's willing to travel to try and get there. Suffused with truth, anger and compassion, Demon Copperhead is an epic tale of love, loss and everything in between.

Took the encouragement of a friend to get me through a slump in the middle, and I’m glad I did eventually finish this.

Emma Cragg

A stunning novel that is so alive you can almost hear a heartbeat coming from it. Demon’s voice is so real and poignant. He is a charming and tragic narrator who you want to succeed no matter what well he falls down. The supporting cast is vivid and unforgettable. Not a single two dimensional character in there.

Daphne Li-Chen

Loved it! Classic, wonderful, character based storytelling. A fantastic rendering of David Copperfield. 

Mark Phillips

This was a book club read and one I would not have personally chosen but it was well written and heart wrenching in regards to the reality of the situation.  There are a lot of trigger warnings and some crude language but is does pertain to the setting and situation.  (It did get a little unnecessarily so as the book progressed which is why it got a three star rating).

A modern twist on Dicken’s “David Copperfield”that will have your heart wrenching.  Demon Copperhead was born in a poor community in Southern Appalachia to a single teenage mom struggling with her demons, addiction and raising her son.  Demon has his typical struggles of growing up in poor Appalachia but it all comes to a head when he finds himself an orphan.  He then has the added struggles of being thrown into the system and his own demons to fight.  From hardships to success and then hitting rock bottom and fighting to survive. Very well written. 

Trigger warnings:  child abuse and neglect, substance abuse, addiction and overdose, suicide, sexual assault. Graphic, crude and vulgar language.

Barbara Williford

This was a book club read and one I would not have personally chosen but it was well written and heart wrenching in regards to the reality of the situation.  There are a lot of trigger warnings and some crude language but is does pertain to the setting and situation.  (It did get a little unnecessarily so as the book progressed which is why it got a three star rating).

A modern twist on Dicken’s “David Copperfield”that will have your heart wrenching.  Demon Copperhead was born in a poor community in Southern Appalachia to a single teenage mom struggling with her demons, addiction and raising her son.  Demon has his typical struggles of growing up in poor Appalachia but it all comes to a head when he finds himself an orphan.  He then has the added struggles of being thrown into the system and his own demons to fight.  From hardships to success and then hitting rock bottom and fighting to survive. Very well written. 

Trigger warnings:  child abuse and neglect, substance abuse, addiction and overdose, suicide, sexual assault. Graphic, crude and vulgar language.

Not my favorite book of the year I don't think, but a strong narrator with a compelling story. I think it dropped off a bit toward the end for me, so it was a bit of a slog to make it through, but the story was pretty good. I could hear the narrator speaking in my head and make more stories from that, kind of funny. 

A similar strong lead like A Gentleman in Moscow. I might've just made both of these stories a little shorter toward the end. 

BC Hark

Not my favorite book of the year I don't think, but a strong narrator with a compelling story. I think it dropped off a bit toward the end for me, so it was a bit of a slog to make it through, but the story was pretty good. I could hear the narrator speaking in my head and make more stories from that, kind of funny. 

A similar strong lead like A Gentleman in Moscow. I might've just made both of these stories a little shorter toward the end. 

the beginning takes a bit to really get you interested; you're basically thrown in for a ride through demon's life and you have no real reason to follow it, so it takes time to know the guy, know his voice, and to find reasons to care about his journey through life. that said, i thought it ended up being a solid page turner, and didn't really get burnt out despite how lengthy the read was.

i thoroughly enjoyed the language and found myself highlighting a lot of things. demon's "voice" may come off as too mature for some parts because he's... supposed to be young...but i wasn't too bothered. ultimately pretty pleased bc i didn't think i'd enjoy this book as much as i did

the beginning takes a bit to really get you interested; you're basically thrown in for a ride through demon's life and you have no real reason to follow it, so it takes time to know the guy, know his voice, and to find reasons to care about his journey through life. that said, i thought it ended up being a solid page turner, and didn't really get burnt out despite how lengthy the read was.

i thoroughly enjoyed the language and found myself highlighting a lot of things. demon's "voice" may come off as too mature for some parts because he's... supposed to be young...but i wasn't too bothered. ultimately pretty pleased bc i didn't think i'd enjoy this book as much as i did

Favorite book and longest I’ve ever read. Very gripping. Had a twist on the 3rd to last paragraph I didn’t see coming until a few pages from the end. Only gripe was maybe the voice felt too mature and self aware given how young he is at the start and the context of his life. Also I don’t feel like I have any context of the accuracy because I know nothing about Appalachia, but I feel like this was an incredible depiction of it.

Finn James

Compelling, surprising, inevitable. I’m going to buy a physical copy so I can have it. 

Jess Rez

Well, first, this reading felt like it was never going to end for me. A lot of pages but felt like the story in general could’ve been told in less than that. I am still not fully sure what was the drive of it.

On the good side, I loved the writing. We see Demon telling us the story since he was a kid and you can see that the words and storytelling are those of someone that age, and you are able to see the growth and how he matures with the passing of every page. 

Ani Velasquez

Where can I start?

Well, first, this reading felt like it was never going to end for me. A lot of pages but felt like the story in general could’ve been told in less than that. I am still not fully sure what was the drive of it.

On the good side, I loved the writing. We see Demon telling us the story since he was a kid and you can see that the words and storytelling are those of someone that age, and you are able to see the growth and how he matures with the passing of every page. 



Had such high hopes for this book given the reviews, but just couldn’t get into it. Then it dragged on and ultimately ended very predictably. I haven’t read ‘David Copperfield’ which this is meant to be a modern take on. Maybe if I had I would get the hype? 

Kaitlyn Wendler

Gordon McArthur

Marsh

elizabeth

As a certified Dickens Hater, I was skeptical, but despite how much this mimics its source (or inspiration?) material, I really liked it. And the beginning was slow going, in part because of my skepticism and in part due to my impatience. I kept wondering if the book was going to get a “real” plot or if it would just be a long slog through somebody’s life. 

And to be honest, it IS kind of a long slog through somebody’s life. But as the chapters went on, I forgot about what I thought I wanted this book to be and started caring about our protagonist. I didn’t mind the slog. Tracing the course of Damon’s life, living in his mind, getting to know his voice, settling in to his environment…it’s no treat, no walk in the park, but it’s a blessing. A less real, less lovable character would render it nothing more than trauma porn. 

Kingsolver navigates Appalachia’s landscapes (socioeconomic, historic, etc.) with nuance but conviction about its heroes and villains. Although certain characters (like Mr. Armstrong or Damon’s aunt) are kind of mouthpieces to provide context, things never feel preachy. 

At its core, and its ending, the novel is sentimental and optimistic (borderline delusional, but I’m not sure if I mind). The ending FEELS remarkably happy in the context of our protagonist’s life, yet is actually pretty modest in the context of modern American aspirations. But the Bildungsroman was never about winning the system (or beating the system, which is the same but different), but finding one’s place within it.

Liza Scheidler 

It was enjoyable but I don’t think it accomplished what it set out to do. Ending kind of made me want to barf

Madi

Depressing book…. Well written, but damn… depressing.

Jennifer Palmer

I haven’t read David Copperfield so I can’t speak to this as an adaptation. But on its own it is gorgeous. Every chapter broke my heart and then somehow mended it again. Books this length often become tedious to me, but every page had its purpose. 

Lexie 

Lindsey Arenson

It’s truly incredible that Barbara Kingsolver is able to inhabit the voice of a teenaged country boy. Idk how she does it, but it’s amazing. My only critique is that the book ended too soon.

Demon Copperhead A Novel

Reviews

Highlights