Southwest Virginia, Lee County
Barbara Kingsolver is from Appalachia and set out to write The Great American Appalachian Novel… AND DID SHE EVER.
Y’all… 21 hours and 3 minutes (560 pages) and I SAILED through it. LISTEN TO THIS BOOK instead of reading it. The narrator is absolute perfection. No one could be a better Demon. Unlike some of the reviews I’ve read, I absolutely wanted it to end. This is not an easy read. It made my heart bleed and overflow almost simultaneously. Regardless of his misfortune and addiction, Demon IS SO GOOD. He remains so good throughout the entire book, which is a testament to humanity as a whole. He describes the happy times of his childhood as anyone would. I can relate to his descriptions of playing with friends outside during childhood years. This gives us all a thread of continuity and weaves us into Demon’s train of thought and perspective.
I loved Ma and HATED Stoner and Romeo. These men prey on single mothers and are horrific subhumans. I literally reacted to much to the gut wrenching parts of this book that my Apple watch congratulated me on my workout… and I wasn’t working out… While most of us aren’t Ma and Mariah, we feel like it. Motherhood is so hard and we all feel like we are failing unforgivably sometimes, and honestly, sometimes we are. Parts of this book made me recall my inadequacies as a mother and wonder how my kids will remember it all. I was angry at Ma for staying with Stoner, but in her position, and as beaten down as she’d been her entire life, she’d just given up years ago. I can’t imagine and I’m grateful I am not and never will be in that position. I was so stupid at 18 years old, but I thank God for family and resources that would never let me sink into Ma’s life.
This is a necessary read and truly a work of art. I was up at 3:30 am this morning thinking about Demon and his chosen family, as they aren’t fictional characters at all. There are countless Demons and Emmys and Dories and Junes and Hammerhead Kellys and Tommys and Fast Forwards all over our great nation and the world, surviving as they know how. I watched several documentaries that realistically depict the drug epidemic in Appalachia. The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia is a 2009 documentary film directed by Julien Nitzberg chronicling the White family of Boone County, West Virginia. It isn’t an easy or tame watch, but I highly recommend it. It elicits the same emotional rollercoaster as this work. And under the differences, traumas, addictions, lifestyles, and intensity is the raw underbelly of people just doing their best to survive bigotry, shame grief, and hunger. Most humans on the planet can relate in some way to that.
The style is unmatched. It reminds me of Cutting for Stone in the sense that you need to read it slowly to absorb all of the beauty, but I loved it even more. I loved the way Demon references religion and the Bible. I can totally see his perspective. And OH MY GOODNESS the figurative language in this masterpiece… Otherworldly. It addresses society as a whole – poverty, addiction, domestic violence, child abuse, discrimination in various forms – while fostering the connective heartbeat of raw, unfiltered humanity straight through all of the impossibilities and devastations.
Some of my personal favorite gems from this masterpiece…
“Pestering the tit of trouble”
‘The monster truck mud rally of child services”
“Keeping secrets from young ears only plants seeds between them.” (woosah….)
… and that is just in the first 11 minutes…
“One nation, underemployed”
“A thing grows teeth once its put into words.”
“Spittin’ poison in my brain” referring to Stoner’s influence on Demon regarding Maggot’s sexuality
“Breathin’ the halitosis of summer…”
Barbara Kingsolver’s Instagram
Kingsolver Interview on Demon Copperhead – MUST LISTEN!!!
Characters:
(Most of the character analyses for this book are paraphrased from LitCharts. There are a ton of characters and I was so enamoured with the writing that I didn’t take great notes…)
Demon Copperhead – Demon, born Damon Fields, is the novel’s protagonist. Demon is born in a trailer bathroom to a young mother who is addicted to drugs. Throughout the novel, Demon struggles to overcome the circumstances of his birth—poverty, generational trauma, and his mother’s addiction, which he ultimately inherits. He serves as an example of the hardships that people in Appalachia face as a result of external forces like inadequate social services, poverty, and a lack of employment opportunities. Demon’s character, in particular, helps illustrate the harm caused by pharmaceutical companies that targeted the Appalachian region and overprescribed opioids they knew to be addictive.
Ma – Demon’s mom is young when she has Demon. During Demon’s childhood, Mom works at Walmart and tries, at various times, to enter recovery from addiction.
Maggot – born Matt Peggot, is Demon’s closest friend growing up. Demon spends as much time at Maggot’s house as his own. When Mom becomes involved with Stoner, Stoner forbids Demon from spending time with Maggot because he suspects that Maggot is gay.
Stoner – Murrell Stone, nicknamed Stoner, is Mom’s boyfriend who is physically and verbally abusive to Mom and Demon.
Satan – Stoner’s dog
Mrs. Peggot – Nance Peggot, more often referred to as Mrs. Peggot, is Maggot’s grandmother who, along with Mr. Peggot, helps raise Maggot after his mother, Mariah, is sent to prison. The novel portrays Mrs. Peggot as kind and caring, and she and her husband become a surrogate family to Demon.
Mr. Peggot – Mrs. Peggot’s husband, is a kind and patient man, He helps raise Demon. He sustained a leg injury while working in the mines and has not walked easily since.
Mariah Peggot – Maggot’s mother, serving prison time, 18 when she went to prison, due to retaliating for domestic violence.
Romeo – Maggot’s father, egotistic and self-proclaimed too good for Mariah, “A fox in the hen house” as Mrs. Peggot says
Emmy – the daughter of Humvee, who passed away before the novel takes place. After Humvee died, the Peggots took in Emmy. When Maggot’s mom was sent to prison, though, the Peggots couldn’t raise two children, so Emmy went to live with her aunt June in Knoxville. June eventually formally adopts Emmy. Emmy is depicted as smart and wise beyond her years.
Aunt June – Maggot and Emmy’s aunt who becomes Emmy’s adoptive mother. June is a nurse in Knoxville who then moves back to Lee County to be closer to her family. She also steps in to help both Demon and Emmy when they are at their lowest and then financially supports their journeys to sobriety.
Angus – born Agnes Winfield, is Coach Winfield’s daughter. She does well in school and initially plans to leave Lee County to go to a four-year college as soon as possible.
Fast Forward – the larger-than-life football star who Demon first meets at Crickson’s farm. At first, Fast Forward seems charming to everyone who meets him, and Demon thinks of him as a kind of real-life superhero. As the novel, progresses, though, this charming façade peels away to reveal a darker, more sinister personality.
Coach Winfield – takes Demon in and helps raise him. Demon lives with Coach and Coach’s daughter, Angus.
Dori – Demon’s girlfriend. Demon is surprised to learn that Dori is a heavy user of opioids, which are prescribed to her father Vester, who is dying of cancer.
Tommy Waddell – one of the foster boys whom Demon meets at Mr. Crickson’s farm. The novel portrays Tommy as a sweet, kind, caring, and gentle person. Tommy is one of my favorite characters in the book.
Betsy Woodall – Demon’s paternal grandmother.
Dr. Watts – the doctor for the football team and the doctor at a pill mill, a kind of pain management clinic that will write prescriptions for anyone who pays for one.
Kent – Aunt June’s boyfriend who is a pharmaceutical representative. Kent’s job consists of trying to get doctors to prescribe opioid painkillers more often.
Hammerhead Kelly – a cousin in the Peggot family, related through marriage. He is a sweetheart.
Miss Barks – meets Demon when he is 10, one of Demon’s case managers through the Department of Social Services (DSS).
Mr. Crickson – the foster parent whom Demon first goes to live with after Mom overdoses.
Mr. McCobb – one of Demon’s foster parents.
Mrs. McCobb – one of Demon’s foster parents.
Dick – Betsy’s brother and Demon’s great-uncle.
U-Haul – born Ryan Pyles. Coach Winfield’s assistant who will later become an assistant football coach.
Mr. Armstrong – an English teacher at Demon’s middle school. He recognizes that Demon is a strong student and recommends him to the gifted and talented program.
Ms. Annie – the art teacher at the high school. She encourages Demon to pursue his talent for drawing. Ms. Annie is married to Mr. Armstrong. Ms. Annie is white and Mr. Armstrong is black.
Mr. Ghali – the owner of Golly’s Market
Rose Dartell – one of Fast Forward’s friends, though Fast Forward seems to treat her only with contempt. Rose seems jealous of Demon for the attention that Fast Forward gives him.
Vester – Dori’s father.
Pretty Colors Unabridged 