Pigs in Heaven (1993)

This novel continues the lives of Taylor and her adopted daughter Turtle Greer, protagonists of Barbara Kingsolver’s earlier novel The Bean Trees. Some of the themes include the meaning of family, community, motherhood, and belonging. On an Easter vacation trip with Taylor, her adoptive mother, six-year-old Turtle sees a young man, Lucky Buster, fall into a spillway at the Hoover Dam; her seeing him leads to his rescue and her own celebrity. Turtle and Taylor appear on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" with other children who have saved lives. Rescuing Lucky Buster, however, leads to discovery and change for Turtle and Taylor because a young Cherokee attorney, Annawake Fourkiller, sees Turtle and hears her adoption story on television.

Annawake, in spite of being counseled by her superiors to not pursue this case, becomes obsessed with returning Turtle to her Cherokee grandfather. She does this in the belief that Turtle will have an unsatisfactory adult life if she is not brought up in her Cherokee family. I was not impressed with this argument as it basically assumed that the bond between Taylor and Turtle was unimportant in light of Turtle's heritage. Taylor responds by fleeing with her daughter. Taylor’s mother, Alice, leaves her husband, Harland, because she wants more than a dead marriage, and goes to Las Vegas to help Taylor and Turtle. After giving Taylor her savings, Alice travels to the town of Heaven on Cherokee Nation land to stay with her cousin and investigate her rights with the tribe of her grandmother. Her time on the Cherokee land does not lessen her commitment to her daughter and granddaughter, but does help her understand Annawake’s quest.

Taylor loses much of her self-confidence as she works to support herself and Turtle, never having enough money to pay all the bills or to eat very well. Taylor’s eventual decision to take Turtle to the Cherokee Nation to talk to Annawake reminds her of Dorothy’s being taken to the castle of the witch in Oz (I didn't make this up). The choice seems forced as does much of the action in the novel. For example, there is a side character named Barbie who is obsessed with Barbie dolls; apparently this is intended to provide comic relief, but I couldn't determine what she added to the story. Each scene is presented in the author’s folksy third-person voice, and the view of the action is usually limited to the perspective of one of the main characters; however, I did not appreciate the authorial voice and that made the book just that much more difficult.

Disappointing is an understatement. Much of the plot seemed contrived to me and the authorial voice was off-putting. While the central characters Taylor and her adopted daughter, Turtle were sympathetic, that was about the only thing that kept me reading the book. ( )

Pigs in Heaven is the 1993 sequel to Barbara Kingsolver’s The Bean Trees and it continues the story of Taylor Greer and her adopted Cherokee daughter, Turtle. When Turtle and Taylor rescue a man at the Hoover Dam, the media attention brings Turtle to the attention of lawyer Annawake Fourkiller, who believes that the child should be returned to the Cherokee Nation. When the adoption proves to be questionable and Turtle is proven to have a Cherokee grandfather who is looking for her, Taylor responds by first grabbing her daughter and running away. She eventually realizes that this nomad life is no way to bring up a child and with the help of her mother, returns to Oklahoma to fight for custody of her daughter.

This was another excellent story by Kingsolver who highlights the strong relationships between mothers and daughters with both Taylor and Turtle, and Taylor and Alice, her own mother. The author also gives attention to the customs, history and present living conditions of the Cherokee Nation. Taylor’s mother, Alice plays a large part in the story and this fantastic character helped give the book depth and humor. All the characters were well-rounded and most were truly intent on seeing to the child’s best interest.

Barbara Kingsolver is indeed a first class storyteller and Pigs in Heaven was a great conclusion to Taylor and Turtle’s story. I listened to an audio version narrated by C. J. Critt who did an outstanding job of bring this story to life. Even though the ending was a little too idealistic, I totally loved this story and I am looking forward to exploring more of this author’s works. ( )

Read. ( )

https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3257856.html

This is a sequel to The Bean Trees, which I very much enjoyed last year. I enjoyed this as well; the previous book ends with a dodgy adoption ceremony, which Pigs in Heaven then needs to resolve between Tennessee and Oklahoma. It's a nice, quirky journey to get there, and although the happy ending is maybe a little too convenient, it put me in a good mood so I was prepared to be forgiving. ( )

In the first book of this short series, [The Bean Trees], Taylor Green has an abused Indian toddler unexpectedly thrust into her arms from the back of a car. It was a great story of making a family from those who don't share your blood, but I was constantly thinking “Wait a minute – adoptions don't happen this way – no way, no how.”

In this sequel the child called Turtle, who is still only minimally verbal, insists that she has seen a man fall into a dangerous place. Taylor believes her, and persists with unbelieving authorities until she finally gets someone to listen. The man is rescued. The resultant publicity brings Turtle to national acclaim, including tribal social workers.

It becomes a beautiful story of the conflict when an abused and neglected child, coming out of her shell and attached to her adoptive white Mom, is claimed by her tribe and members of her extended family.

The characters are all well realized. We see the backstory and pain of individual tribal family members and the whole of a nation whose children were removed from them.

How can there be any winners in this situation?

Highly recommended. ( )