bobproct 's review for:

Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver

4.0

---

The novel tells two parallel stories set in the same crumbling house in Vineland, New Jersey—one in the present day, the other in the 1870s. In the modern timeline, Willa Knox, a journalist, struggles with financial ruin, family crises, and a collapsing home while searching for stability. In the 19th-century timeline, Thatcher Greenwood, a science teacher, faces hostility when he supports Darwin’s theories against entrenched religious beliefs. Both storylines explore what happens when the “structures” people rely on—physical, social, and ideological—are breaking down. The novel shows how people endure when old beliefs and structures collapse, finding resilience and integrity in uncertain times. This was a thought-provoking book, and my Book Club's book of the month for Sept. I gave it five stars.