Demon Copperhead
Winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction
Published on 4. May 2023
Book
Paperback/Softback
560 pages
978-0-571-37648-3 (ISBN)
Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES READERS BEST BOOK OF THE 21ST CENTURY
PARTITA - THE HEARTRENDING NEW NOVEL FROM BARBARA KINGSOLVER - COMING OCTOBER 2026
A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION
TWICE WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION
SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES TAIT BLACK PRIZE FOR FICTION
THE MULTI-MILLION COPY SELLING AUTHOR
BOOK AT BEDTIME ON BBC RADIO 4
AN OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK
'Without a doubt the best book I'll read this year.' KATE ATKINSON
'It's EPIC. Righteously angry, DEEPLY moving and exquisitely written.' MARIAN KEYES
'Daring, entertaining and highly readable.' The Times
'Electrifying.' Daily Mail
'A blaze of a book.' RACHEL JOYCE
'A masterclass.' RICHARD POWERS
'Masterful.' Pulitzer Prize
'Powerful.' Guardian
'A work of genius.' KATE MOSSE
____________
Demon Copperhead is a once-in-a-generation novel that breaks and mends your heart in the way only the best fiction can.
Demon's story begins with his traumatic birth to a single mother in a single-wide trailer, looking 'like a little blue prizefighter.' For the life ahead of him he would need all of that fighting spirit, along with buckets of charm, a quick wit, and some unexpected talents, legal and otherwise.
In the southern Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, poverty isn't an idea, it's as natural as the grass grows. For a generation growing up in this world, at the heart of the modern opioid crisis, addiction isn't an abstraction, it's neighbours, parents, and friends. 'Family' could mean love, or reluctant foster care. For Demon, born on the wrong side of luck, the affection and safety he craves is as remote as the ocean he dreams of seeing one day. The wonder is in how far he's willing to travel to try and get there.
Suffused with truth, anger and compassion, Demon Copperhead is an epic tale of love, loss and everything in between.
____________
Readers love Demon Copperhead:
????? 'Outstanding . . . I don't know how someone can write a book like this: inhabit a totally different character and create it with such empathy, respect and fullness.'
?????'Powerful and brilliant. To immerse yourself in a Kingsolver novel is to put yourself in the hands of a master.'
?????'This was one of the greatest books I have read . . . Kingsolver is a magician with words, and her rage quietly seeps from each page.'
????? 'Raw, angry, starkly beautiful . . . Genuinely one of the best books I've ever read.'
?????'An incredibly raw and moving read, with a big-hearted hero who will stay with me for a long time.'
????? 'I cannot overstate how absorbing this book is. It is wonderful and has restored my faith in fiction and novels.'
PARTITA - THE HEARTRENDING NEW NOVEL FROM BARBARA KINGSOLVER - COMING OCTOBER 2026
A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION
TWICE WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION
SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES TAIT BLACK PRIZE FOR FICTION
THE MULTI-MILLION COPY SELLING AUTHOR
BOOK AT BEDTIME ON BBC RADIO 4
AN OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK
'Without a doubt the best book I'll read this year.' KATE ATKINSON
'It's EPIC. Righteously angry, DEEPLY moving and exquisitely written.' MARIAN KEYES
'Daring, entertaining and highly readable.' The Times
'Electrifying.' Daily Mail
'A blaze of a book.' RACHEL JOYCE
'A masterclass.' RICHARD POWERS
'Masterful.' Pulitzer Prize
'Powerful.' Guardian
'A work of genius.' KATE MOSSE
____________
Demon Copperhead is a once-in-a-generation novel that breaks and mends your heart in the way only the best fiction can.
Demon's story begins with his traumatic birth to a single mother in a single-wide trailer, looking 'like a little blue prizefighter.' For the life ahead of him he would need all of that fighting spirit, along with buckets of charm, a quick wit, and some unexpected talents, legal and otherwise.
In the southern Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, poverty isn't an idea, it's as natural as the grass grows. For a generation growing up in this world, at the heart of the modern opioid crisis, addiction isn't an abstraction, it's neighbours, parents, and friends. 'Family' could mean love, or reluctant foster care. For Demon, born on the wrong side of luck, the affection and safety he craves is as remote as the ocean he dreams of seeing one day. The wonder is in how far he's willing to travel to try and get there.
Suffused with truth, anger and compassion, Demon Copperhead is an epic tale of love, loss and everything in between.
____________
Readers love Demon Copperhead:
????? 'Outstanding . . . I don't know how someone can write a book like this: inhabit a totally different character and create it with such empathy, respect and fullness.'
?????'Powerful and brilliant. To immerse yourself in a Kingsolver novel is to put yourself in the hands of a master.'
?????'This was one of the greatest books I have read . . . Kingsolver is a magician with words, and her rage quietly seeps from each page.'
????? 'Raw, angry, starkly beautiful . . . Genuinely one of the best books I've ever read.'
?????'An incredibly raw and moving read, with a big-hearted hero who will stay with me for a long time.'
????? 'I cannot overstate how absorbing this book is. It is wonderful and has restored my faith in fiction and novels.'
More details
Edition
Main - Re-issue
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 40 mm
Weight
453 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-571-37648-3 (9780571376483)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Barbara Kingsolver is the global prize-winning and bestselling author of novels including Unsheltered, Flight Behaviour, The Lacuna, The Poisonwood Bible and Demon Copperhead, as well as books of poetry, essays and creative non-fiction. Her work of narrative non-fiction is the influential bestseller Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. Kingsolver's work has been translated into more than twenty languages and has earned literary awards and a devoted readership at home and abroad. She has won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and is the first author to win the Women's Prize twice. Barbara lives with her family on a farm in southern Appalachia.