A review by bookswithchaipai
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

A favourite from last year, I never got to writing down my thoughts about it because it took a lot of time to process all the hardships Demon had to endure. But now I’m ready, although it was hard to translate my emotions into words because of the passage of time

Copperhead is a beautifully nuanced modern retelling of David Copperfield. It gave a tiny taste of what to expect from this classical behemoth in a simpler language, but the page count remains the same at 546

Although it borrows the narrative structure from the Dickens novel, the writing is modern & relatable, & is set in rural Kentucky rather than depressing England

Apart from reaming out Demon’s story, it strives to highlight the mistreatment of the Appalachian people through discrimination, & the over-prescription of addictive pain medications, the effects of which left kids homeless.

The book navigates us through systematic abuse, a broken foster care system, the over-prescribed opioid dependency, and most of all this book has a gigantic beating heart filled with empathy. 

I went through a 100 shades of anger as I digested the bad-luck and the resolve that young Damon had, as he went from one abusive foster home to another. Even when good luck peeped in on him, I was waiting for something bad to happen, knowing that his happiness is short-lived, and I gave a half-hearted chuckle when I was right! 

The characters are well fleshed out and some of them grew close to my heart. There were a lot of mother figures in Demon’s life, who eventually let him down, but I found it heart breaking to see that no one measured up to his real mother who was the reason for him entering the foster care system

All he ever wanted was a place to call home & people to call his own, but the real world kept flipping the wrong cards at him.

#BookFact -Kingsolver was touring in England when she discovered that Bleak House, where Dickens wrote much of Copperfield was a B&B. She settled into the study where he had worked, and communed with Dickens & that is where the idea was born