I found the characters interesting and I could relate to them. Well written.

One of my all time favourites. She captures the individual voices of each character in the novel. Quite an amazing book.

A novel like this is my favourite way of learning about the wider world and a moment in its history, in this case the Belgian Congo and its revolution to Zaire and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Tragic but pleasant, easy but educational.

best book read for school ever!

my absolute favourite book by Kingsolver. The book is absolutely incredible. i cant even imagine how much work went into the book. perhaps my favourite book ever

May be my all time #1.

I enjoyed this novel of life in Africa's Congo in the early 1960's, as narrated by the wife and four daughters of a missionary. Kingsolver does a wonderful job with her characters, and since each character is very different from the others, once you come to know the personalities there is little confussion as to who is narrating at any one time. (Oct 2003)

A bit of a slow read so it was hard to read it quickly. But Kingsolver is an amazing author and I have not read a book yet that I have not enjoyed.

Great read! The book was told from the perspectives of 5 different people, which can get confusing but the author did such a great job of keeping the story complete. It was cohesive and flowed nicely. The characters' personalities were so distinct and well laid out that it was almost as if 5 different people had written their accounts, rather than just one! Highly recommend.

Excellent. Kingsolver's thought provoking best, in my opinion.