WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE • WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION New York Times Readers’
Pick: Top 100 Books of the 21 st Century • An Oprah’s Book Club Selection • An Instant New
York Times Bestseller • An Instant Wall Street Journal Bestseller • A #1 Washington Post
Bestseller • A New York Times "Ten Best Books of the Year" "Demon is a voice for the ages—akin
to Huck Finn or Holden Caulfield—only even more resilient.” —Beth Macy author of Dopesick
"May be the best novel of [the year]. . . . Equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking this is
the story of an irrepressible boy nobody wants but readers will love.” — Ron Charles
Washington Post From the acclaimed author of The Poisonwood Bible and The Bean Trees and the
recipient of the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American
Letters a brilliant novel that enthralls compels and captures the heart as it evokes a
young hero’s unforgettable journey to maturity Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia
Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide
trailer with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair a caustic
wit and a fierce talent for survival. Relayed in his own unsparing voice Demon braves the
modern perils of foster care child labor derelict schools athletic success addiction
disastrous loves and crushing losses. Through all of it he reckons with his own invisibility
in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.
Many generations ago Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a
survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems
have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel but he
provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American
South Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens’ anger and compassion and above all his faith in
the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of
lost boys and all those born into beautiful cursed places they can’t imagine leaving behind.
