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Homeland and Other Stories
Homeland and Other Stories offers comic, often heart-warming but always true to life tales told as only the author can, creating a world of love and possibility that listeners will want to take as their own. A rich and emotionally resonant collection of twelve stories of hope, momentary joy, and powerful endurance.
245 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
1114 people are currently reading
6140 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Kingsolver
78 books28.3k followersBarbara Ellen Kingsolver is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, essayist, and poet. Her widely known works include The Poisonwood Bible, the tale of a missionary family in the Congo, and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, a nonfiction account of her family's attempts to eat locally. In 2023, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for the novel Demon Copperhead. Her work often focuses on topics such as social justice, biodiversity, and the interaction between humans and their communities and environments.
Kingsolver has received numerous awards, including the Dayton Literary Peace Prize's Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award 2011 and the National Humanities Medal. After winning for The Lacuna in 2010 and Demon Copperhead in 2023, Kingsolver became the first author to win the Women's Prize for Fiction twice. Since 1993, each one of her book titles have been on the New York Times Best Seller list.
Kingsolver was raised in rural Kentucky, lived briefly in the Congo in her early childhood, and she currently lives in Appalachia. Kingsolver earned degrees in biology, ecology, and evolutionary biology at DePauw University and the University of Arizona, and worked as a freelance writer before she began writing novels. In 2000, the politically progressive Kingsolver established the Bellwether Prize to support "literature of social change".
Kingsolver has received numerous awards, including the Dayton Literary Peace Prize's Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award 2011 and the National Humanities Medal. After winning for The Lacuna in 2010 and Demon Copperhead in 2023, Kingsolver became the first author to win the Women's Prize for Fiction twice. Since 1993, each one of her book titles have been on the New York Times Best Seller list.
Kingsolver was raised in rural Kentucky, lived briefly in the Congo in her early childhood, and she currently lives in Appalachia. Kingsolver earned degrees in biology, ecology, and evolutionary biology at DePauw University and the University of Arizona, and worked as a freelance writer before she began writing novels. In 2000, the politically progressive Kingsolver established the Bellwether Prize to support "literature of social change".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 644 reviews
July 14, 2008
Leave it to my mother. Every time I get to the point where I've almost relegated her to the lands of the unenlightened, she pops out of the woodwork and shows off a surprising amount of taste; for a Baptist minister who proudly voted for George W. Bush and thinks Carrot Top is funny, my mom occasionally knows what's up. Homeland was an Easter gift, buried between chocolate bunnies and "inspirational" literature meant to soothe what she sees as my wayward soul. Like a lot of her gifts, the aforementioned Mom Stigma kept me from tearing right into it; on the contrary, it was five months before a long road trip provided the impetus to finally see what Ms. Kingsolver had to tell me.
The timing, I found, couldn't have been better. Like everyone in 11th grade AP English, I read The Bean Trees , took the quiz, wrote the essay and forgot about it, my only memories of the story being "Jesus Is Lord Used Tires" and a vague notion that I didn't hate it. Knowing that I would soon be trapped in car driving from Maine to western Kentucky, I grabbed a pile of books that I hoped would preserve my sanity- enter Homeland. By the time we'd left New England my literature stash was already half-depleted, so as the forests and fast pace of the northeast faded into the slow, rolling hills of the south I said a silent prayer that my mom didn't strike out, smoked a bit of marijuana and tackled the first story.
Give either Kingsolver or the pot credit- I've never been able to keep interested in Native American stories (am I a bad person? Likely), but "Homeland" didn't bore me one bit. In fact, for the first time, I kind of understood the allure of the culture and the people that actually care about it (and as the author presumably falls into this category, one could chalk this up as the definition of successful literature). Beautifully written, the titular tale whispers a sad message on the disintegration Native American culture without the kind of overplayed pity that usually turns similar pieces into unwitting self-parodies; instead of a feathery, face-painted Indian shedding tears at someone's discarded soda can, Kingsolver presents a character old but vibrant, stoic but sad, and the reader is left not with obligatory guilt but a soft melancholy. It's kind of beautiful.
All the stories in Homeland subscribe to a general theme of small towns and "simple" people. Rather than crafting elaborate or glamorous plot lines, Kingsolver lets her nearly-poetic words and characters carry the stories, and as our vehicle plunged into the warm drawl of the mid-south it felt like each narrative could be happening right next to me. Homeland could never be a Hollywood film. The relationships within eschew fiery breakups and dramatic, emotional reconciliations for slow, subtle declines that creak and bend like an old weathered bridge; moments of clear profundity sometimes strike the characters, but like real life these epiphanies rarely change anyone's life significantly. In Kingsolver's world, people live and love and hurt- but they still have to get up for work the next morning.
Homeland is not a Catcher in the Rye type of book; no one is going to rethink their lives or carry it with them on a trip to murder John Lennon, but that, in essence, is the point. It's hard to relate to most popular books and films, with their fantastic tales and characters that always seem to end up ok regardless of what craziness ensues. While those kinds of things hold an integral place in the artistic world, it's refreshing to see the lives of "ordinary" people brought to life in an equally entertaining way, and one could argue that the simplicity of Kingsolver's stories makes them more impressive. I'll leave that to someone else. But by golly, if you find yourself on a long drive through the heart of America, pick up Homeland and let yourself get wrapped up inside it- even if it lets you down, it'll be subtle and you might not even notice.
The timing, I found, couldn't have been better. Like everyone in 11th grade AP English, I read The Bean Trees , took the quiz, wrote the essay and forgot about it, my only memories of the story being "Jesus Is Lord Used Tires" and a vague notion that I didn't hate it. Knowing that I would soon be trapped in car driving from Maine to western Kentucky, I grabbed a pile of books that I hoped would preserve my sanity- enter Homeland. By the time we'd left New England my literature stash was already half-depleted, so as the forests and fast pace of the northeast faded into the slow, rolling hills of the south I said a silent prayer that my mom didn't strike out, smoked a bit of marijuana and tackled the first story.
Give either Kingsolver or the pot credit- I've never been able to keep interested in Native American stories (am I a bad person? Likely), but "Homeland" didn't bore me one bit. In fact, for the first time, I kind of understood the allure of the culture and the people that actually care about it (and as the author presumably falls into this category, one could chalk this up as the definition of successful literature). Beautifully written, the titular tale whispers a sad message on the disintegration Native American culture without the kind of overplayed pity that usually turns similar pieces into unwitting self-parodies; instead of a feathery, face-painted Indian shedding tears at someone's discarded soda can, Kingsolver presents a character old but vibrant, stoic but sad, and the reader is left not with obligatory guilt but a soft melancholy. It's kind of beautiful.
All the stories in Homeland subscribe to a general theme of small towns and "simple" people. Rather than crafting elaborate or glamorous plot lines, Kingsolver lets her nearly-poetic words and characters carry the stories, and as our vehicle plunged into the warm drawl of the mid-south it felt like each narrative could be happening right next to me. Homeland could never be a Hollywood film. The relationships within eschew fiery breakups and dramatic, emotional reconciliations for slow, subtle declines that creak and bend like an old weathered bridge; moments of clear profundity sometimes strike the characters, but like real life these epiphanies rarely change anyone's life significantly. In Kingsolver's world, people live and love and hurt- but they still have to get up for work the next morning.
Homeland is not a Catcher in the Rye type of book; no one is going to rethink their lives or carry it with them on a trip to murder John Lennon, but that, in essence, is the point. It's hard to relate to most popular books and films, with their fantastic tales and characters that always seem to end up ok regardless of what craziness ensues. While those kinds of things hold an integral place in the artistic world, it's refreshing to see the lives of "ordinary" people brought to life in an equally entertaining way, and one could argue that the simplicity of Kingsolver's stories makes them more impressive. I'll leave that to someone else. But by golly, if you find yourself on a long drive through the heart of America, pick up Homeland and let yourself get wrapped up inside it- even if it lets you down, it'll be subtle and you might not even notice.
July 5, 2013
Kingsolver is nothing if not political. She writes stories with a purpose. Lots of poetry, but no puffery. Her characters are strugglers not stragglers. She is of the South, but fights its good ole boy ways.
In each story, the main character, most always female, fights, fights as if her life depends upon it. It does. Indigenous people, Appalachians, native Americans, Latinas all need to balance right and wrong, familial love, racism, unionism, etc.
Each story is powerful and no issue is resolved. Kingsolver writes about real life problems which are rarely solved. This is a serious read. The heroines of these stories are torn, tugged at and sometimes tempted, but they are not toadies. Kingsolver is like a ventriloquist, creating tableaux for her characters to speak from her heart.
In each story, the main character, most always female, fights, fights as if her life depends upon it. It does. Indigenous people, Appalachians, native Americans, Latinas all need to balance right and wrong, familial love, racism, unionism, etc.
Each story is powerful and no issue is resolved. Kingsolver writes about real life problems which are rarely solved. This is a serious read. The heroines of these stories are torn, tugged at and sometimes tempted, but they are not toadies. Kingsolver is like a ventriloquist, creating tableaux for her characters to speak from her heart.
September 25, 2012
I don't often read short stories, but a colleague lent this to me, and I'm so glad he did. It's beautifully written, and I will definitely go on to try Kingsolver's novels.
This is a collection of a dozen poignant stories: all quite different in plot, style, and setting (though all are in small, non-wealthy communities), but all concerning people who are somewhat marginalised, whether by society or within a relationship. In the few short pages of each story, Kingsolver conjures up whole lives... and then moves on to something different.
HOMELAND
The title story is a warm evocation of an elderly Cherokee woman. Those like her who were forced to leave their homeland "carried the truth of themselves in a sheltered place inside the flesh, exactly the way a fruit that has gone soft carries inside itself the clean, hard stone of its future". She lives with her family and tries to pass on some traditional lore to her grandchildren. This includes a visceral relationship with the environment: vines grow "with the persistence of the displaced", there are "Complicated cracks hanging like spider webs in the corner of the windshield", and in a mining area, "even the earth underneath us sometimes moved to repossess its losses", closing up "as quietly as flesh wounds".
BLUEPRINTS
This is about a couple in their thirties, though they seem older. He is a carpenter and she is a science teacher with an interest in animal behaviour and imprinting - hence the title. In a clever way I can't quite pinpoint, the writing conjures up the detatchment of the couple, with each other and their former home and friends in a larger town. "After so many years together it's as if they've suddenly used up all their words... and are now using the last set over and over."
COVERED BRIDGES
A couple ponder whether to start a family, while visiting the covered bridges typical of the area: possibly crossing from one type of life to another.
QUALITY TIME
"Organisation is the religion of the single parent", and guilt is the price.
STONE DREAMS
The husband loves and studies rocks as a hobbly; the wife "clings to steady things, like a barnacle clings to a boulder", but it is a strained relationship. "We stayed together because he didn't seem to have other plans, and because I couldn't picture myself as being husbandless".
SURVIVAL ZONES
A teenage girl is faced with deciding whether to stay in the small, dull town she has grown up in (and that had been designated for evacuees in the event of nuclear way).
ISLANDS ON THE MOON
This story had the most plot. A 28 year old single mother lives in the same trailer park as her estranged 44 year old mother. The daughter is embarrassed by her mother's weirdness (artistic, eco, hippie): she "just has to ooze out a little bit of art in everything she does, so that no part of her life is exactly normal", such as "painting landscapes on her tea kettles". She also resents her mother's freedom, "When it comes to men, she doesn't even carry any luggage" and ability to attract attention away from her. The daughter equates talking to her mother as being "like quicksand", but when they finally do have a meaningful conversation, the title is perhaps apt.
BEREAVED APARTMENTS
There is a touch of curtain-twitching mystery about this one, which sets it apart from the others. The title refers to houses that have been split into apartments, so that each is missing something - as the inhabitants themselves might be.
EXTINCTIONS
A woman takes her young sons back to her family home in a small town, bringing back all sorts of memories (but leaving gaps as well) and tensions. "X accuses Y of putting on airs since she moved away... but Y has never tried to put the past behind her. Large pars of her childhood just seem to erase themselves quietly while she's not looking."
JUMP-UP DAY
This is set in the Caribbean, where a jumpy is a zombie. The difficult daughter of an English doctor is raised by nuns. She "asked for little and seemed to need so much", so you know there will be trouble.
ROSE-JOHNNY
This is about difference: the burden it can be in a small town, compared with the open-minded acceptance of a child.
WHY I AM A DANGER TO THE PUBLIC
Union politics, prejudice (sex, race and class) and righteous indignation, with a twist near the end.
MISCELLANEOUS QUOTES
* "When the going gets rough you fall back on whatever awful things you grew up with."
* "We are driven to duty and hoard happiness by taking photographs."
* "Palm trees, newly transplanted [to a trailer park], looking frankly mortified by their surroundings."
* "Bob, who associated processed foods with intellectual decline."
* "a new house that is too large and dramatic for a family of three... the drama of the house gets to us, forcing us to rise to occasions we'd all rather just let pass."
* Children are sent to an estranged grandmother every supper to appease her "the way the Aztecs every so often offered up to the grumpy gods a human heart". (I'm not keen on the structure of that sentence, but I like the analogy.)
* Such low expectations: "we were in love by modern standards"!
* Pondering a film that has been censored for TV, a woman "feels that her own life has been like that, with the exciting parts cut out".
* A woman not fully accepting of her pregnancy, "just doesn't think about what's going on there other than having some vague awareness that someone has moved in and is rearranging the furniture of her body".
* On being something of a misfit and comparing the lives of neighbours, "A feels permanently disqualified from either camp, the old-fashioned family or the new. It's as if she somehow got left behind, missed every boat across the river, and now must watch happiness being acted out on the beach of a distant shore".
This is a collection of a dozen poignant stories: all quite different in plot, style, and setting (though all are in small, non-wealthy communities), but all concerning people who are somewhat marginalised, whether by society or within a relationship. In the few short pages of each story, Kingsolver conjures up whole lives... and then moves on to something different.
HOMELAND
The title story is a warm evocation of an elderly Cherokee woman. Those like her who were forced to leave their homeland "carried the truth of themselves in a sheltered place inside the flesh, exactly the way a fruit that has gone soft carries inside itself the clean, hard stone of its future". She lives with her family and tries to pass on some traditional lore to her grandchildren. This includes a visceral relationship with the environment: vines grow "with the persistence of the displaced", there are "Complicated cracks hanging like spider webs in the corner of the windshield", and in a mining area, "even the earth underneath us sometimes moved to repossess its losses", closing up "as quietly as flesh wounds".
BLUEPRINTS
This is about a couple in their thirties, though they seem older. He is a carpenter and she is a science teacher with an interest in animal behaviour and imprinting - hence the title. In a clever way I can't quite pinpoint, the writing conjures up the detatchment of the couple, with each other and their former home and friends in a larger town. "After so many years together it's as if they've suddenly used up all their words... and are now using the last set over and over."
COVERED BRIDGES
A couple ponder whether to start a family, while visiting the covered bridges typical of the area: possibly crossing from one type of life to another.
QUALITY TIME
"Organisation is the religion of the single parent", and guilt is the price.
STONE DREAMS
The husband loves and studies rocks as a hobbly; the wife "clings to steady things, like a barnacle clings to a boulder", but it is a strained relationship. "We stayed together because he didn't seem to have other plans, and because I couldn't picture myself as being husbandless".
SURVIVAL ZONES
A teenage girl is faced with deciding whether to stay in the small, dull town she has grown up in (and that had been designated for evacuees in the event of nuclear way).
ISLANDS ON THE MOON
This story had the most plot. A 28 year old single mother lives in the same trailer park as her estranged 44 year old mother. The daughter is embarrassed by her mother's weirdness (artistic, eco, hippie): she "just has to ooze out a little bit of art in everything she does, so that no part of her life is exactly normal", such as "painting landscapes on her tea kettles". She also resents her mother's freedom, "When it comes to men, she doesn't even carry any luggage" and ability to attract attention away from her. The daughter equates talking to her mother as being "like quicksand", but when they finally do have a meaningful conversation, the title is perhaps apt.
BEREAVED APARTMENTS
There is a touch of curtain-twitching mystery about this one, which sets it apart from the others. The title refers to houses that have been split into apartments, so that each is missing something - as the inhabitants themselves might be.
EXTINCTIONS
A woman takes her young sons back to her family home in a small town, bringing back all sorts of memories (but leaving gaps as well) and tensions. "X accuses Y of putting on airs since she moved away... but Y has never tried to put the past behind her. Large pars of her childhood just seem to erase themselves quietly while she's not looking."
JUMP-UP DAY
This is set in the Caribbean, where a jumpy is a zombie. The difficult daughter of an English doctor is raised by nuns. She "asked for little and seemed to need so much", so you know there will be trouble.
ROSE-JOHNNY
This is about difference: the burden it can be in a small town, compared with the open-minded acceptance of a child.
WHY I AM A DANGER TO THE PUBLIC
Union politics, prejudice (sex, race and class) and righteous indignation, with a twist near the end.
MISCELLANEOUS QUOTES
* "When the going gets rough you fall back on whatever awful things you grew up with."
* "We are driven to duty and hoard happiness by taking photographs."
* "Palm trees, newly transplanted [to a trailer park], looking frankly mortified by their surroundings."
* "Bob, who associated processed foods with intellectual decline."
* "a new house that is too large and dramatic for a family of three... the drama of the house gets to us, forcing us to rise to occasions we'd all rather just let pass."
* Children are sent to an estranged grandmother every supper to appease her "the way the Aztecs every so often offered up to the grumpy gods a human heart". (I'm not keen on the structure of that sentence, but I like the analogy.)
* Such low expectations: "we were in love by modern standards"!
* Pondering a film that has been censored for TV, a woman "feels that her own life has been like that, with the exciting parts cut out".
* A woman not fully accepting of her pregnancy, "just doesn't think about what's going on there other than having some vague awareness that someone has moved in and is rearranging the furniture of her body".
* On being something of a misfit and comparing the lives of neighbours, "A feels permanently disqualified from either camp, the old-fashioned family or the new. It's as if she somehow got left behind, missed every boat across the river, and now must watch happiness being acted out on the beach of a distant shore".
August 7, 2022
Totally loved it. A totally new world I know almost nothing about which was told beautifully and strongly in just few pages. This is how a short story should be.
July 23, 2023
If it's important, your heart remembers.
One of the best short stories collections that I have read this year, or ever :) I've finished reading it but I'm on it again. I got so troubled by it that I told myself it would be worthwhile the trouble to read it again. I look no different after I have read it still the words have settled in, with heat in the air, and I feel so much different. So funny I forgot to laugh, but there are no jokes in these stories..
One of the best short stories collections that I have read this year, or ever :) I've finished reading it but I'm on it again. I got so troubled by it that I told myself it would be worthwhile the trouble to read it again. I look no different after I have read it still the words have settled in, with heat in the air, and I feel so much different. So funny I forgot to laugh, but there are no jokes in these stories..
December 4, 2025
Not all books are meant to be audiobooks, but those that are, absolutely must be listened to and then listened to again to catch the nuanced, beautiful language that can be missed the first time around. Such is the case with Barbara Kingsolver’s Homeland and Other Stories, read by Kingsolver. She reads her stories with the soft, sweet accent of rural Kentucky, where she grew up.
It put me in mind of other books I’ve listened to that I categorize as “gentle reads”, like Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce and Paddington Bear by Michael Bond. They are all books that soothe the soul by the very nature of the narration.
Unfortunately the edition that I had turned out to be abridged, so there were far fewer stories than in the unabridged edition. I am not even certain that the stories themselves weren’t abridged. Two of the five were unusually short. No matter, the first story, the book’s title was told by a young girl about her “great-mam” (great-grandmother)
who was a member of the bird clan, one of the fugitive bands of Cherokees who resisted capture. Great-mam had a way of sharing her wisdom that sometimes seemed to be caught only by her great granddaughter.
Barbara Kingsolver is among my favorite authors and I’ve read about 5 of her books. She’s a magician with language, and never was her use of language more beautiful than in these short stories.
It put me in mind of other books I’ve listened to that I categorize as “gentle reads”, like Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce and Paddington Bear by Michael Bond. They are all books that soothe the soul by the very nature of the narration.
Unfortunately the edition that I had turned out to be abridged, so there were far fewer stories than in the unabridged edition. I am not even certain that the stories themselves weren’t abridged. Two of the five were unusually short. No matter, the first story, the book’s title was told by a young girl about her “great-mam” (great-grandmother)
who was a member of the bird clan, one of the fugitive bands of Cherokees who resisted capture. Great-mam had a way of sharing her wisdom that sometimes seemed to be caught only by her great granddaughter.
Barbara Kingsolver is among my favorite authors and I’ve read about 5 of her books. She’s a magician with language, and never was her use of language more beautiful than in these short stories.
October 27, 2007
I recommend this to those who can pick up on the subtle things as many of these stories are more impressions or snapshots of life -- what people are like, how they feel, what they want, etc -- rather than big, exciting plots.
This book was lovely. I could relate to every single character in this book, be they young, old, man, woman, happy, miserable, and so on. Kingsolver's writing is so poetic while conveying such REALITY. I am full of admiration for her as a writer and have yet to find anything by her that I didn't love.
I feel as though having at least some experiences in the South (southwest and south south) are necessary to fully understand some of the scenes and characters' motivations and beliefs, but I'm sure it would be fine without.
The title story is the first story in the book and probably one of the best. I read it and then put the rest of the book down for a few weeks as I just kept thinking about it.
Read: "When the seasons changed, it never occurred to us to think to ourselves, "This will be Great Mam's last spring. Her last June apples. Her last fresh roasting ears from the garden." She was like an old pine, whose accumulated years cause one to ponder how long it has stood, not how soon it will fall."
These lines are indicative of how thoughtful and beautiful her writing is. Is there anyone who can't relate to those lines? Is there anyone doesn't take a moment to realize just how carefully she must have chosen every word. Consider -- the verb 'to ponder' rather than 'to think' or 'to muse' or anything like that. Doesn't it just reiterate this idea of the pine tree to you? (It makes me imagine the ponderosa pine.) Ahhhh, her writing is, simply, exquisite.
Other favorites within the collection: Blueprints, Stone Dreams, and Rose-Johnny.
Warning: Sometimes these stories and characters are so real and relatable that it hurts to read them.
This book was lovely. I could relate to every single character in this book, be they young, old, man, woman, happy, miserable, and so on. Kingsolver's writing is so poetic while conveying such REALITY. I am full of admiration for her as a writer and have yet to find anything by her that I didn't love.
I feel as though having at least some experiences in the South (southwest and south south) are necessary to fully understand some of the scenes and characters' motivations and beliefs, but I'm sure it would be fine without.
The title story is the first story in the book and probably one of the best. I read it and then put the rest of the book down for a few weeks as I just kept thinking about it.
Read: "When the seasons changed, it never occurred to us to think to ourselves, "This will be Great Mam's last spring. Her last June apples. Her last fresh roasting ears from the garden." She was like an old pine, whose accumulated years cause one to ponder how long it has stood, not how soon it will fall."
These lines are indicative of how thoughtful and beautiful her writing is. Is there anyone who can't relate to those lines? Is there anyone doesn't take a moment to realize just how carefully she must have chosen every word. Consider -- the verb 'to ponder' rather than 'to think' or 'to muse' or anything like that. Doesn't it just reiterate this idea of the pine tree to you? (It makes me imagine the ponderosa pine.) Ahhhh, her writing is, simply, exquisite.
Other favorites within the collection: Blueprints, Stone Dreams, and Rose-Johnny.
Warning: Sometimes these stories and characters are so real and relatable that it hurts to read them.
February 8, 2012
I was so conflicted about how to rate this book: some of the stories were definitely 5 star quality, while others I would rate at a 2 or 3.
In the end, I decided that the great stories outweighed the meh stories, and so it got four stars.
The title story, "Homeland" is extrememly good, although my favorites were "Covered Bridges" and "Rose Johnny"
A theme of these stories is an "incomplete" or sort of abrupt ending. At first, this bothered me, until I realized it's a perfect statement about life and relationships-- it never really "ends" one story just stops. However, some of the stories, like "Jump Up Day" and "Extinctions" feel unfinished in a "how do I end this damn story? I'll just stop writing," kind of way.
Overall though, a really great book with some beautiful writing that really worms its way permamnently into your brain.
For example, my favorite part:
"As I looked at her there among the pumpkins I was overcome with the color and the intesity of my life. In these moments we are driven to try and hoard happiness by taking photographs, but I know better. The improtant thing was what the colors stood for, the taste of hard apples and the existence of Lena and the exact quality of the sun on the last warm day in October. A photograph would have flattened the scene into a happy moment, whereas what I felt was rapture. The fleeting certainty that I deserved this space I'd been taking up on this earth, and all the air I had breathed."
In the end, I decided that the great stories outweighed the meh stories, and so it got four stars.
The title story, "Homeland" is extrememly good, although my favorites were "Covered Bridges" and "Rose Johnny"
A theme of these stories is an "incomplete" or sort of abrupt ending. At first, this bothered me, until I realized it's a perfect statement about life and relationships-- it never really "ends" one story just stops. However, some of the stories, like "Jump Up Day" and "Extinctions" feel unfinished in a "how do I end this damn story? I'll just stop writing," kind of way.
Overall though, a really great book with some beautiful writing that really worms its way permamnently into your brain.
For example, my favorite part:
"As I looked at her there among the pumpkins I was overcome with the color and the intesity of my life. In these moments we are driven to try and hoard happiness by taking photographs, but I know better. The improtant thing was what the colors stood for, the taste of hard apples and the existence of Lena and the exact quality of the sun on the last warm day in October. A photograph would have flattened the scene into a happy moment, whereas what I felt was rapture. The fleeting certainty that I deserved this space I'd been taking up on this earth, and all the air I had breathed."
January 17, 2020
Very early Barbara Kingsolver, stories published in 1989. I liked most of these, especially Rose-Johnny and Bereaved Apartments.
June 1, 2013
I have just recently returned from a my first trip to Europe, and I toured many of the major museums. It struck me as funny the way people would literally run up to one of the great masterworks of Western Art and get their picture taken, and the way folks would elbow their way to get as close as possible to the Mona Lisa or Van Gogh's Self Portrait. I think people want, even if just for a few second to be in the presence of greatness. Standing in front of the Mona Lisa is as close as you will ever get to being in the presence of one of the greatest minds in western culture. For my own part, I felt that way as I stood in front of the original Bust of Nefertiti. It was just an amazing experience to be in the presence of such great artistic ability and an object of such beauty. Which brings me to Barbara Kingsolver.
I have not read every book of Barbara Kingsolver's as of yet, but I have read many. When you read a Barbara Kingsolver work it is like being in the presence of the master for 8 or 10 hours or however long it takes you to read her book. I will never cease to be amazed at the technical skill, the ability to evoke a picture, the ability to write dialogue BK possesses. Homeland is a collection of short stories that range in subject matter from the descendants of a Cherokee woman who seem not to realize that their great-grandmother is an Indian, a woman having an affair and on a camping trip with her lover, a little girl's first encounter with a lesbian in her small town, a union leader trying to get her folks through a strike, two thieves that live in two connected apartments, and more. The dialogue includes the accents without being patronizing of the people who possess the accents. There was not a single story in here I disliked; all of them are excellent. The main theme of this collection is that people are people now matter which station of life they come from and what they do with their time, no matter their color, their gender, their orientation, etc. These characters all have a story to tell and lucky them, the modern day master of story-telling is doing the work for them.
I have not read every book of Barbara Kingsolver's as of yet, but I have read many. When you read a Barbara Kingsolver work it is like being in the presence of the master for 8 or 10 hours or however long it takes you to read her book. I will never cease to be amazed at the technical skill, the ability to evoke a picture, the ability to write dialogue BK possesses. Homeland is a collection of short stories that range in subject matter from the descendants of a Cherokee woman who seem not to realize that their great-grandmother is an Indian, a woman having an affair and on a camping trip with her lover, a little girl's first encounter with a lesbian in her small town, a union leader trying to get her folks through a strike, two thieves that live in two connected apartments, and more. The dialogue includes the accents without being patronizing of the people who possess the accents. There was not a single story in here I disliked; all of them are excellent. The main theme of this collection is that people are people now matter which station of life they come from and what they do with their time, no matter their color, their gender, their orientation, etc. These characters all have a story to tell and lucky them, the modern day master of story-telling is doing the work for them.
Read
February 26, 2024A short story (packaged as a small standalone book) about a young girl and her grandmother, who is a First Nations woman long assimilated into white U.S. life.
My favourite line came early on: "My knowledge of her life follows an oddly obscured pattern, like a mountain road where much of the scenery is blocked by high laurel bushes, not because they were planted there, but because no one thought to cut them down."
I loved this idea, which really resonates with my own feelings of family history: so much known, so much glancingly unknown.
The writing in this story was wonderful, reminding me that I really did enjoy The Poisonwood Bible years ago. I want to read more Kingsolver. I'm leaving this unrated though because it was very much a short story. Unlike some of the other Faber and Faber selections I've read packaged this way, Mostly Hero, Mrs Fox, Giacomo Joyce or even Mr Salary, I didn't really feel this was a standalone piece.
My favourite line came early on: "My knowledge of her life follows an oddly obscured pattern, like a mountain road where much of the scenery is blocked by high laurel bushes, not because they were planted there, but because no one thought to cut them down."
I loved this idea, which really resonates with my own feelings of family history: so much known, so much glancingly unknown.
The writing in this story was wonderful, reminding me that I really did enjoy The Poisonwood Bible years ago. I want to read more Kingsolver. I'm leaving this unrated though because it was very much a short story. Unlike some of the other Faber and Faber selections I've read packaged this way, Mostly Hero, Mrs Fox, Giacomo Joyce or even Mr Salary, I didn't really feel this was a standalone piece.
April 3, 2023
Homeland
Of the dozen short stories encompassing the book, there are three that I felt were 5 stars or so.
1. The titular story is certainly sentimental but in a sweet way. The great grandmother is Cherokee and though old and nearly blind she has plenty of wisdom to dispense. She wishes to return to her ancestor's home in North Carolina one last time before she passes. Excellent intergenerational dynamics and some beautiful writing to boot. The best story in the book.
2. Islands in the Moon - essentially describes the relationship between a mother and her adult daughter who aren't always on the same wavelength. When they both get pregnant at the same time the story is oddly compelling.
3. Why I Am A Danger to the Public - a part time union activist draws the ire of the town and corporation
The other stories ranged from okay to good but they didn't grab me in any way.
4 stars. Kingsolver is a treasure.
Of the dozen short stories encompassing the book, there are three that I felt were 5 stars or so.
1. The titular story is certainly sentimental but in a sweet way. The great grandmother is Cherokee and though old and nearly blind she has plenty of wisdom to dispense. She wishes to return to her ancestor's home in North Carolina one last time before she passes. Excellent intergenerational dynamics and some beautiful writing to boot. The best story in the book.
2. Islands in the Moon - essentially describes the relationship between a mother and her adult daughter who aren't always on the same wavelength. When they both get pregnant at the same time the story is oddly compelling.
3. Why I Am A Danger to the Public - a part time union activist draws the ire of the town and corporation
The other stories ranged from okay to good but they didn't grab me in any way.
4 stars. Kingsolver is a treasure.
October 9, 2023
I really enjoyed most of these stories! Definitely a testament to Barbara Kingsolver’s skill.
February 6, 2024
3.5 ⭐️ i famously do not really like short stories but my dear BK writes so beautifully — i’m impressed with how well-developed the characters were and how much emotion she was able to fit into short lil stories
August 7, 2024
“Parenting is something that happens mostly while you’re thinking of something else."
"When the seasons changed, it never occurred to us to think to ourselves, "This will be Great Mam's last spring. Her last June apples. Her last fresh roasting ears from the garden." She was like an old pine, whose accumulated years cause one to ponder how long it has stood, not how soon it will fall."
Barbara Kingsolver is one of those authors who writes as if she is building stories with words as lego bricks. It is not sufficient to be impressed - she wants you to be 'in rapture'. There is poetry and color in her writing and a lot of spirit in her characters.
What makes a Home? This titular story is of a Cherokee Indian who had been displaced from her homeland years ago. The story is narrated from the present by her grand daughter. The grand kids are brought up christian and the grandmaam tries to pass on the Indian ways in her own ways. She wants to visit her homeland again and the book brilliantly lands the disillusionment when she finally does so. There are some parts that gave me goosebumps- like how she imagines the wind is searching for her grandmaam, passing right over her grave and not recognising her Christian name.
Of the other stories, I loved Rose Johnny which is told from the POV of a little girl who is making sense of diversity. This story captures the innocence of the child which does not understand the adult biases. She is told that Rose Johnny is "Lebanese" by her aunt and she dutifully tries to look it up and make an innocent connection to the sea.
There is one story about a pastor who was a bully as a child and this sets off trauma in the lead character who has forgotten all about it. And there is Blueprint about the relationship between a middle aged couple in their 30s living together.
Kingsolver is surely a force to reckon with!
"When the seasons changed, it never occurred to us to think to ourselves, "This will be Great Mam's last spring. Her last June apples. Her last fresh roasting ears from the garden." She was like an old pine, whose accumulated years cause one to ponder how long it has stood, not how soon it will fall."
Barbara Kingsolver is one of those authors who writes as if she is building stories with words as lego bricks. It is not sufficient to be impressed - she wants you to be 'in rapture'. There is poetry and color in her writing and a lot of spirit in her characters.
What makes a Home? This titular story is of a Cherokee Indian who had been displaced from her homeland years ago. The story is narrated from the present by her grand daughter. The grand kids are brought up christian and the grandmaam tries to pass on the Indian ways in her own ways. She wants to visit her homeland again and the book brilliantly lands the disillusionment when she finally does so. There are some parts that gave me goosebumps- like how she imagines the wind is searching for her grandmaam, passing right over her grave and not recognising her Christian name.
Of the other stories, I loved Rose Johnny which is told from the POV of a little girl who is making sense of diversity. This story captures the innocence of the child which does not understand the adult biases. She is told that Rose Johnny is "Lebanese" by her aunt and she dutifully tries to look it up and make an innocent connection to the sea.
There is one story about a pastor who was a bully as a child and this sets off trauma in the lead character who has forgotten all about it. And there is Blueprint about the relationship between a middle aged couple in their 30s living together.
Kingsolver is surely a force to reckon with!
November 14, 2025
Read this after Demon Copperhead. Loved this collection. Amazed at the range of characters and voices and situations. Will read more Kingsolver!
December 8, 2023
Although I'm not the biggest fan of short stories, Kingsolver does them justice. Her understanding of interpersonal relationships is amazing. I particularly enjoyed the stories that explored mother-daughter relationships, and the blending of those categories. Categories that feel so distinctly separate when you're young but as you reach a certain age begin to feel like two sides of the same coin. Overall, a beautiful book.
October 25, 2012
If I were teaching a fiction workshop to undergraduates, I think this would have to be on my reading list. Kingsolver waltzes with those story components so gracefully and each story has range; the reader does not feel as if she is reading the same story with slight shifts. With each story, I felt comfortable with it as a whole entity, though with many, I wish there were more, wanting to live in that world a bit longer.
The only issue I took were a good handful of her endings--they felt as if she were wrapping things in the last paragraph. It wasn't that there was a twist or even always a neat conclusion; the plot line with denouement was not always there, which is fantastic. But the last few sentences might give a reflection to the protagonist on the situation, and I expected something more complex from a writer of this caliber.
Some pieces of writing I loved the most:
"Most of the men I knew thought of their children as something their wives had produced, nurtured, and given to the world like tomatoes grown for the market."
"I showed her how brussels sprouts grow, attached along the fat main stem like so many suckling pigs."
"'When the seas first learned to breathe oxygen, a carpet of rust was laid down over the face of the earth.' I made fun of his way of talking but in sixteen years I'd picked up his penchant for dramatizing things, and I did it better."
"Prehistoric rock carvings, he said, were the aesthetic bridge between humans and the earth."
"On weekdays you could see her there drawing out sodas with no expression on her face, or standing at the juicer making orange juice, stacking up the emptied-out halves like a display of bright beanies, their cheerfulness lost on her."
"... they had no business calling this a forest. It reminded me of a Biblical disaster area--a tribe of toppled-over women who'd all looked back and got turned into pillars of salt."
"She'd never even known to count, like sheep or blessings, the days of her life that almost didn't happen."
"It was dangerous even to walk without shoes in the back garden where invisible infections were drawn up like cricket songs along the wet grass."
The only issue I took were a good handful of her endings--they felt as if she were wrapping things in the last paragraph. It wasn't that there was a twist or even always a neat conclusion; the plot line with denouement was not always there, which is fantastic. But the last few sentences might give a reflection to the protagonist on the situation, and I expected something more complex from a writer of this caliber.
Some pieces of writing I loved the most:
"Most of the men I knew thought of their children as something their wives had produced, nurtured, and given to the world like tomatoes grown for the market."
"I showed her how brussels sprouts grow, attached along the fat main stem like so many suckling pigs."
"'When the seas first learned to breathe oxygen, a carpet of rust was laid down over the face of the earth.' I made fun of his way of talking but in sixteen years I'd picked up his penchant for dramatizing things, and I did it better."
"Prehistoric rock carvings, he said, were the aesthetic bridge between humans and the earth."
"On weekdays you could see her there drawing out sodas with no expression on her face, or standing at the juicer making orange juice, stacking up the emptied-out halves like a display of bright beanies, their cheerfulness lost on her."
"... they had no business calling this a forest. It reminded me of a Biblical disaster area--a tribe of toppled-over women who'd all looked back and got turned into pillars of salt."
"She'd never even known to count, like sheep or blessings, the days of her life that almost didn't happen."
"It was dangerous even to walk without shoes in the back garden where invisible infections were drawn up like cricket songs along the wet grass."
March 28, 2023
This was one of the Faber anniversary books celebrating Fabers history and range of publications.
So this is a interesting little book focusing on how the Cherokee nation and its heritage changed (and in the this story shows how it was corrupted) to in to a shadow of its former glory. As travelling back to the home of one of the characters reveals that sadly it is no longer what they remember (there is no spoiler here as it is expressed on the inner cover).
So what of the story - well for me it is an insight in to the Cherokee people - I will be the first to admit I know next to nothing of the people apart from the name and what popular media shows - which I suspect is an almost criminal misrepresentation.
What this book showed me was a warm and colour view on the world which is reflected in its people - its hard to describe what the aim is of such a short book however for me it is a window to people I doubt I will be lucky enough to meet in person
So this is a interesting little book focusing on how the Cherokee nation and its heritage changed (and in the this story shows how it was corrupted) to in to a shadow of its former glory. As travelling back to the home of one of the characters reveals that sadly it is no longer what they remember (there is no spoiler here as it is expressed on the inner cover).
So what of the story - well for me it is an insight in to the Cherokee people - I will be the first to admit I know next to nothing of the people apart from the name and what popular media shows - which I suspect is an almost criminal misrepresentation.
What this book showed me was a warm and colour view on the world which is reflected in its people - its hard to describe what the aim is of such a short book however for me it is a window to people I doubt I will be lucky enough to meet in person
February 11, 2013
I didn't expect this book. I read Prodigal Summer years ago, but this book is entirely different. Fifty percent percent of the stories are awesome. The rest are interesting but nothing stunning. The thing that is impressive about this book is the range of voices. As a collection of short stories it showcased Kingsolvers' ability to write convincingly from lots of different perspectives: the Latina strikebreaker, the white trash theif, the unhappily married woman - all female voices from different walks of life,occupations, concerns, countries. I enjoyed seeing her tackle all hese different stories. I particularly liked Homeland, Blueprints, Bereaved Apartments, and Why I Am A Danger to the Public.
August 26, 2016
I am a bit embarrassed to admit I've never really read anything by Kingsolver before; I started Flight Behavior when Hannah was a baby, and my e-book library loan ended before I could really get into it. On the flipside, I am happy to have "discovered" a new author whose books I can pick up without much worry about whether or not the writing will be good. I enjoyed each of the stories in this collection and was impressed by Kingsolver's range in voice, point of view, character, and style. There are two stories that I think would be interesting and appropriate to read with my students, "Homeland" and "Rose-Johnny".
May 28, 2010
A very interesting collection of short stories that introduce the reader to women in a variety of situations and at various stages of life. Kingsolver has a fine ear for dialog and seems able to dive straight to the heart of all manner of issues that confront our understanding of what it means to be a woman. Each of these women proves heroic in some small way and her remarkable ability to draw us into the story is on brilliant display. This reader came to care about each of these women in some fundamental way. That is the power of her art.
April 15, 2011
Glad to return to an older Kingsolver book. Fine stories all, set in places like CA, Kentucky and St. Lucia. Mostly female protagonists and narrators. Mostly about complex women of various ages who face up and 'fess up to challenge and change. Especially liked "Blueprints," "Bereaved Apartments,"Jump-up Day," and "Why I Am A Danger To The Public." I love the way K. weaves in place, time, nature, and the ties that bind us despite our differences.
September 17, 2017
Phenomenal. I'm adding this to my list of reasons to love Barbara Kingsolver.
December 13, 2018
These delicious stories are another reason I adore Barbara Kingsolver. She never fails to woo me with her simple, yet intriguing storytelling. I return to her time after time.
September 1, 2020
Maybe 3.5. A few excellent stories and a few pretty good ones. Kingsolver fans should read it for sure.
October 10, 2020
Barbara Kingsolver is a gem. I’ll be pondering these stories...and the meaning of home...for a good long time.
July 3, 2025
Barbara Kingsolver’s long and distinguished career reached superstardom when she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2023 for her epic coming-of-age novel Demon Copperhead. With other classic, beloved titles on her resume such as The Poisonwood Bible, it is easy to forget about her early work such as the admirable collection of stories Homeland from 1989. The twelve stories that comprise the volume are not all standouts, but the last three stories elevate the collection from average to absolutely unforgettable.
The first half of the collection came off more tedious than engaging, mostly because Kingsolver’s prose felt evasive and unsmooth with gaining a rhythm. However, she was able to deliver subtle and impactful revelations by the end of each story that I stayed invested enough to continue, especially due to the heartrending third piece “Covered Bridges” about an older couple considering parenthood. Then towards the middle “Stone Dreams” was compelling about an unfaithful wife who maintained a close relationship with her daughter. However, except for those two stories, the other seven of the first nine failed to register.
But then Kingsolver closes out the volume by delivering three outstanding pieces: “Jump-Up Day” about a young girl trying to find her purpose after the loss of her parents; “Rose-Johnny” about a young girl’s connection with a mistreated middle-aged lesbian and the violence they survive; and “Why I Am a Danger to the Public” about a resilient single mom leading a workers’ strike. Those three pieces each had me riveted to the suspense of what would happen. Each had ground-shaking revelations, and that trio of nearly flawless stories makes me appreciate Kingsolver’s collection as the worthy precursor it proved to be for the classic works she produced in the decades ahead.
The first half of the collection came off more tedious than engaging, mostly because Kingsolver’s prose felt evasive and unsmooth with gaining a rhythm. However, she was able to deliver subtle and impactful revelations by the end of each story that I stayed invested enough to continue, especially due to the heartrending third piece “Covered Bridges” about an older couple considering parenthood. Then towards the middle “Stone Dreams” was compelling about an unfaithful wife who maintained a close relationship with her daughter. However, except for those two stories, the other seven of the first nine failed to register.
But then Kingsolver closes out the volume by delivering three outstanding pieces: “Jump-Up Day” about a young girl trying to find her purpose after the loss of her parents; “Rose-Johnny” about a young girl’s connection with a mistreated middle-aged lesbian and the violence they survive; and “Why I Am a Danger to the Public” about a resilient single mom leading a workers’ strike. Those three pieces each had me riveted to the suspense of what would happen. Each had ground-shaking revelations, and that trio of nearly flawless stories makes me appreciate Kingsolver’s collection as the worthy precursor it proved to be for the classic works she produced in the decades ahead.
May 14, 2023
Zitten hele mooie en bijzondere verhaaltjes tussen! Maar vond het bij elkaar iets te lang, een beetje vervelend-lezend font en sommige verhalen hitten gewoon niet zo. Merkte op gegeven moment dat ik het graag snel uit wilde hebben en me ook echt niet gefocust heb op het laatste verhaal daardoor. Echter zaten er wel hele mooie verhaaltjes tussen, zoals Blueprints, Rose-Johnny en Covered Bridges. En hoe Kingsolver in zulke korte verhalen karakters neer kan zetten en een wereld kan bouwen… heel heel knap. Prachtig geschreven, gewoon iets te lang voor me :’) 3.5 sterren
February 20, 2021
What a lovely collection. I admire Kingsolver's versatility with her character voices. She writes things she is knowledgeable about but does it engagingly. I often read authors who write what they know but don't consider most readers' unfamiliarity with the subject and give no explanation, so you have to google everything. Kingsolver tells you all you need to know, and she gives you STORY as opposed to some authors who think good writing is tons of DESCRIPTION.
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