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Prodigal Summer

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Prodigal Summer

By: Barbara Kingsolver
Narrated by: Barbara Kingsolver
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About this listen

 Prodigal Summer weaves together three stories of human love within a larger tapestry of lives in southern Appalachia. At the heart of these intertwined narratives is a den of coyotes that have recently migrated into the region. Deanna Wolfe, a reclusive wildlife biologist, watches them from an isolated mountain cabin where she is caught off-guard by Eddie Bondo, a young hunter who comes to invade her most private spaces and her solitary life.

Down the mountain, another web of lives unfolds as Lusa Maluf Landowski, a bookish city girl turned farmer's wife, finds herself in a strange place where she must declare or lose her attachment to the land that has become her own. And a few more miles down the road, a pair of elderly, feuding neighbors tend their respective farms and wrangle about God, pesticides, and the possibilities the future holds.

Over the course of one long summer, these characters find connections to one another, and to the land, and the final, urgent truth that humans are only one piece of life on earth.

©2000 Barbara Kingsolver (P)2000 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Political Small Town & Rural Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Summer Appalachian

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Critic reviews

"Readers will be seduced by [Kingsolver's] effortless prose." ( Publishers Weekly)
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another beauty from Kingsolver, I'm half way in, and totally consumed by the beautiful description of moths, trees, animals and human emotions. the way she weaves the story and guide you through it, building reach worlds and pictures... better than any movie I ever saw! I highly recommend so far.

Beautiful nature descriptions...

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What made the experience of listening to Prodigal Summer the most enjoyable?

I love the characters Barbara Kingsolver has created. they have real depth and they way they interreact and she weave stories around them is very attractive . Also the eco warrior in her provides helpful advice that gives 'ah hah' moments that are worth rewinding to listen again.

What three words best describe Barbara Kingsolver’s voice?

deep south

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

no

Any additional comments?

I don't think Barbara necessarily does justice to the performance. She is a good reader but she doesn't adapt her voice very well to the different characters so it is a little monotone.

However, why have so few of her books been recorded as audiobooks. I was hoping to download a couple more having enjoyed this one so much.

Wonderful thought provoking book

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I have read this book several times, I love the way the story is told, with people gradually winding in to others lives, and the story comes together at the end in a very fitting way. I have just listened to the audio version for the first time, and it is a just as satisfying as when reading it. The author of the book narrates the story beautifully, with lovely soft american tones. I could listen to her voice all day!

My favourite book of all time.

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If you're an animal /nature lover and like strong, intelligent female characters as well as a good love story this is for you.

If you're a nature lover and like strong female ch

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This is my third Kingsolver book and I have to admit that after listening to this wonderful audiobook that I will now be going on read everything she has written.
Prodigal Summer is a rich, complex tale that is expressed with great insight into our humanity and the larger world of which are such an integral part. Kingsolver is a very gifted narrator and to let her words wash over me during this telling - well for me I could ask for nothing more.

truly beautiful

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I absolutely loved Prodigal Summer, and Barbara Kingsolver’s reading made it even more personal (though not the trained interpretation of an actor’s voice). No other author of fiction I know has this sympathetic and cunningly perceptive understanding of kinship to nature and wild beings. Characters are real and the narrative is so compelling I could hardly wait for an opportunity to immerse myself in the reading. Her language is rich and provides multissensorial cues that make the experience even more authentic. Through interlacing stories the reader is taken on the main protagonists’ (two women at different stages of their lives and an older man) journeys, stumbles, losses,discoveries and precious finds. I also absolutely love the clarity of the information about some of the most key concepts in ecology, animal behavior, evolution and sustainable living, which come fluid as part of self reflection, children entertainment, and heated argumentation. Just as gripping and fascinating as ‘Flight behavior’, by the same author. I look forward to more of the kind!

A voice for nature like no other

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I loved the narrators voice, so subtle but really engaging. Obviously being a book written by Barbara Kingsolver, the story was going to be amazing yet modest. I thoroughly enjoyed this book

Loved everything about this book

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Well read by the author, this is a story that will have you immersed in the wonders of Nature and how valuable those humans are that respect, listen, feel & respond to 'her'. The strong female characters are inspiring.

Very enjoyable listen

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loved the intricacy and connections. ...very educational as well. she did a nice job narrating it

loved the intricacy and connections. ...very educational as well

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Expertly narrated by the author, this book has the feel of a true American epic with the comfort and sweetness of a bedtime story. Everything is revealed at its own quiet pace without ever feeling too slow. Kingsolver's prose is so beautiful and rich in detail that you feel you can breathe in the smell of the soil. Wonderful characters, wonderful story.

Absolutely humming with life

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