Book Title:

The Bean Trees

Author:

Barbara Kingsolver

Reviewer:

 Erin Sawyer

Summary:

The novel The Bean Trees opens in rural Kentucky, where a young adventurous girl Taylor grows up. Many years after her graduation from high school she decides to leave Kentucky to get away in search of change. She begins to head west with hopes or her old beat up VW Bug taking her to somewhere new.

When she arrives at an Indian reservation in Oklahoma, she is made responsible for a 3-year-old Indian girl who was left in her car seat. She takes good care of the child and takes her on the adventure, eventually naming her Turtle. They end up traveling as far as Tucson, Arizona, where she realizes that she must come to terms with motherhood and settling down. They end up meeting many new helpful people. One including Lou Ann, whom she decides to live with. Lou Ann has had a troubled past of her own by becoming a mother very young and raising the baby by herself. With the help of each other they learn how to take care of themselves, to deal with pain, loss, and fortune.

Opinion:

 In my opinion The Bean Trees is a novel of determination, compassion, and love. It is a quick read that helps people realize what they have in life and not to take things for granted.

Rating:

 4 out of 5 stars