Pigs in Heaven continues the story of Taylor Greer, her adopted daughter Turtle and her mother Alice.
When Taylor and Turtle take a trip to the Grand Canyon they come to the attention of the media and particularly the Oprah Winfrey Show. The public exposure brings her into the notice of a Cherokee lawyer whose mission it is to return the lost children of the tribe to their tribal families. Taylor fears she will lose the child she loves and goes into hiding. Alice her mother steps in to try and broker an agreement.
I enjoyed this continuation of the 'Turtle saga just as much as the first. The author creates wonderful characters and believable voices in this narrative while highlighting a serious issue. I highly recommend these two books.
I thoroughly enjoyed Homeland and Other Stories. This author's wonderful characterisation of these quirky rural communities immediately drew me into each new story. Her eye for detail and dialogue is marvellous. Islands on the Moon had me laughing out loud. ( )

I picked this up because I liked The Bean Trees so much, but I was disappointed in this. The quirky voice of Taylor is gone, to be replaced by a lot of back and forth discordant voices. I lost interest in this... ( )

This is an omnibus and I have written reviews for each book, reading dates in brackets.

The Bean Trees (27 - 28 December)

Earlier this year I read my first Kingsolver, Pigs in Heaven, which is the sequel to this one and wanted to learn more about Taylor and Turtle. I don't think it was a major problem reading them in the wrong order, this is still a strong book. This is a wonderful novel about family and friendship. There are some heavy issues in the story but the writing is good enough so that they don't they feel preachy. I love Kingsolver's writing; her quirky characters and strong sense of place.

Pigs in Heaven (15 - 18 November)

My first Kingsolver novel but it certainly will not be my last. After reading this I found out that it is the second in a series but, as far as I am concerned, it does stand alone. There is a great sense of place on this trip across the United States. There are interesting characters, some of them extremely quirky but not completely unbelievable. It is a wonderful book and I loved the writing; the characters and the story.

Homeland and other stories (1 - 4 January)

I definitely like Kingsolver's writing and this short story collection is no exception. These are mainly stories of small town; poverty stricken individuals. I must say that there is a melancholy cast to these stories and none of them are very positive. Despite that I enjoyed the descriptive writing and the strong and memorable characters. ( )

Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver (1994)