Barbara Kingsolver
The Bean Trees
Marietta Greer spent her girlhood in rural Kentucky determined to do two things: avoid getting pregnant and escape rural Kentucky. At the start of the novel, she has headed west in a beat-up '55 Volkswagon, changing her name to "Taylor" when her runs out of gas in Taylorville, Illinois. By the time two tires give way in Tucson she has with her a stunned, silent three-year-old Cherokee girl who was literally, dropped into her arms one night. She has named the child Turtle, for her strong, snapping-turtle-like grip. In Tucson Taylor finds friendship and support in Lou Ann Ruiz, a fellow Kentuckian and single mother, with whom she and Turtle share a house. Her newfound community also includes Mattie, who runs a safe housse for political refugees in the upstairs rooms above her auto repair shop. The novel's themes of fear, flight, homelessness and finding sanctuary within a community are present in Taylor's struggle to find a place where she belongs, and the more urgent plight of two Central American refugees, Estevan and Esperanza. These fellow travelers help one another create new lives and redefine the meanings of home and family.
Questions for Discussion
Harper Collins Publishers have prepared a Reading Group Guide with questions for your Reading Group for The Bean Trees.
Food Rec
This turkey chili will give you a taste of what the characters in the book were munching on when indulging in some adult beverages