The bestselling debut novel by Barbara Kingsolver, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and twice winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction
Plucky Taylor Greer grows up poor in rural Kentucky with two goals: to avoid pregnancy and to get away. She succeeds on both counts when she buys an old car and heads west. But midway across the country, motherhood catches up with her when she becomes guardian of an abandoned baby girl she calls Turtle. In Tucson they encounter an extraordinary array of people, and with their help Taylor builds herself an her sweet, stunned child a life.
‘Compelling and very funny’ Daily Telegraph
‘Remarkable’ New York Times
‘An astonishing literary debut’ Cosmopolitan
‘The work of a visionary… It leaves you open-mouthed and smiling’ Los Angeles Times
Newsletter Signup
By clicking ‘Sign Up,’ I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Hachette Book Group’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
Reviews
As clear as air. It is the southern novel taken west, its colors as translucent and polished as one of those slices of rose agate from a desert shop
Idealistic and exhilarating, The Bean Trees is a book that combines the most careful craft with a moral code that is loving and expansive
This funny, inspiring book is a marvelous affirmation of risk-taking, commitment and everyday miracles...An overwhelming delight, as random and unexpected as real life
So wry and wise we wish it would never end....The chatty, down-home audacity of Barbara Kingsolver's remarkable first novel hooks us on the first page
Compelling and very funny
A major new talent. From the very first page, Kingsolver's characters tug at the heart and soul
The work of a visionary... It leaves you open-mouthed and smiling
This is the story of a lovable, resourceful 'instant mother,' one who speaks, acts and learns for herself, becoming an inspiration to us all
An astonishing literary debut... For a deep breath of fresh air, spend some time in the neighborhood of The Bean Trees
An extraordinary good novel, tough and tender and gritty and moving