by Barbara Kingsolver

Coming of age stories tend to have something sappy about them. The struggles of growing up, growing into your skin and becoming who you were always meant to be. A journey described through wisdoms we know all too well and yet we crave to hear time and time again: “just be yourself!” and “you shouldn’t care about what other people think of you”.

Demon Copperhead tells us no such things. This is a coming of age story, yes, but its message lies more along the lines of: “being yourself does not always guarantee success in life”, and “sometimes what people think of you will dictate whether or not you get left behind”. 

From the moment we meet protagonist Damon Fields, more generally known under the hair-colour based nickname Demon Copperhead, it is impossible not to feel for him. Born as the son of a drug addicted teenage mother in a trailer home and growing up without a father figure or any sort of stable family situation, Demon has not won the lottery of life. All he has are his neighbours: the Peggots, and although they do what they can to provide the boy with whatever stability they have to offer, the Peggots have problems of their own. As it turns out, every character we meet in this heartbreaking, yet humorous and incredibly readable book, has very real problems to contend with. 

Demon’s struggles start from birth. As he exits his mother’s body and makes his way into the world, he remains stuck in the amniotic sac. Bad luck, but he makes it out alive and according to local superstition, at least he will now never die of drowning. Score. However, it seems the boy’s life has to get much worse before it gets slightly better. An abusive stepfather, a dead mother, moving around from foster home to foster home and ending up with a drug addiction just like his mom, Demon is being kicked through life rather than carried. Unfortunately for him, the adults that he has to rely on to help him are not much better off, leaving him to his own devices very early on. 

Demon Copperhead is a retelling of the Charles Dickens classic David Copperfield, detailing the life events of an English orphan who escapes an abusive factory to become a successful novelist. Kingsolver’s version takes place in Lee County, Virginia, in the impoverished mountain areas of southern Appalachia. It is a compelling and raw story about the groups of people who were left behind as modern society got built. Although the subject matter is extremely sad and painful, Kingsolver’s writing style keeps you hooked from the very first page. It uses humour as a way to keep the mood light for large portions of the book, which makes the most heartbreaking and harrowing moments even more impactful. Overall I can only describe the story as incredibly honest and human. The captivating descriptions of the rural nature of the Appalachia encourage you to let yourself be transported into the physical world of Demon Copperhead as well as his emotional world. 

I absolutely flew through this book and already can’t wait to revisit it someday. It grips you from the very first sentence and keeps you hooked long after the final page. So many sentences and paragraphs were underlined that particularly spoke to me or made me think, and I am sure that with each re-read, more pencil will cover the pages.