Barbara Kingsolver Gets Back to Basics
Lush, green hillsides and drizzling rain in the Mountain South might get taken for granted by some people. Not so for the gardeners among us, including best-selling author Barbara Kingsolver. The bountiful land in Southern Appalachia is one compelling reason that Kingsolver was “called home” to Southwestern Virginia a few years ago.
Kingsolver grew up an Appalachian girl in Eastern Kentucky, explored Europe in her ’20s and later settled in Tucson, Ariz., where she lived for 25 years. In 2004 she and her family moved to a flourishing farm in Southwest Virginia, a move that was also the theme of her latest book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. “We wanted to live in a place that could feed us,” she says. “Where rain falls, crops grow and drinking water bubbles right up out of the ground.”
Kingsolver and husband Steven Hopp, along with daughters Camille and Lily, embraced rural life and their Virginia community. They shared garden produce, advice on growing crops and recipes with neighbors; and they deliberately ate only locally produced foods. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle—Kingsolver’s first nonfiction narrative—is the story of the family’s “locavore” experience throughout each season of a year. Part memoir and part journalistic investigation, the book enlightens readers about the food chain and explores the repercussions of industrial food production. For the complete story, please read the Holiday 2008 issue of Marquee Mountain South.
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