Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver

Vineland, New Jersey

I'll start by saying that I didn't pick up this book by choice. It was a book club book from when I was living in Moses Lake Washington. The books chosen by this particular book club were very much catered towards female baby boomers, and this book was no exception. However, I ended up absolutely loving this book.

The book follows two families that both live in the same dilapidated home in New Jersey during different time periods. One family lives during the 19th century and struggles to navigate a world dominated by religion while exploring new scientific ideas. The other family is contemporary, and they struggle financially in our changing, fucked up economy. I didn't care so much for the 19th century family, although it was a good way to break up the story. I found the contemporary story much more interesting.

Willa Knox, the matriarch of the contemporary family, is a 50-something former journalist for a magazine that went out of business. She is married to her husband, a professor at a small university. They struggle financially (in a white middle class kind of way) and moved into a deceased aunt's home, which is not in good shape.They have two children, Zeke, an ivy-league educated stock broker and Tig, an absolute bad-ass who works at a restaurant and starts a community hunger relief garden.

The reason I love this book so much is because I would describe it as a "coming of age" story for baby boomers. Boomers tend to be very hard on their children because they think the world today is just like how the world was for them when they were in their 20's and 30's. Willa struggles when her identities of career and wealth are taken from her, and she has a hard time relating to her children, who represent the spectrum on which baby boomers view millennials. As the book goes on, Willa begins to understand Tig on another level, and Willa lets go of a lot of the material possessions on which she based her self worth.

I had my Mom read this book because I wanted her to understand where I was coming from when I try to talk to her about the bleakness of the future. She ended up just pitying Willa's family and saying that's not how her life should have turned out after "a lifetime of work (she always says this to justify that I should be broke right now because I'm "just starting out" even though at my age she could afford rent while working part time and going to school). But the point of the story is not to pity Willa. She gained more of an understanding of how the world is going to be from now on, and that rugged individualism and materialistic views are not the answer. Willa grew up, and that is something to celebrate, not pity.

Review by the Numbers

Overall: 4/5

Writing: 4/5

Plot: 3/5

Character Development: 5/5

Message: 4/5

P.S. Tig Knox, I would marry you in a heartbeat.