Would you characterize this book as a postcolonial political epic, a psychological novel, a family saga, or what?
Like most artists, I’m chary about categorizing my work—particularly this novel. It’s very large. It’s political and domestic, symbolic and epic and, I dearly hope, a heck of a read. I believe in delivering on my contract with my readers. You’ve got plenty of other things to do, I know, so here is our deal: […]
Were you consciously trying to create a parallel to Little Women, in this story of a mother and four daughters?
Certainly I considered that other famous family as I was writing this. It was one of the most beloved books of my childhood. But the parallels don’t go too far. Louisa May Alcott didn’t put any snakes in her book, that I recall.
What are your feelings about the single-minded Nathan? Do you feel you did justice to him and his faith?
Nathan kept me in thrall for thousands of pages, through the many drafts of this long novel. Am I pleased with how I rendered him? Yes, of course, or he would not be in print. I only turn in a manuscript after I’ve made it exactly what I want it to be. If I ever […]
The evangelist Nathan Price never speaks for himself in this tale, we only see him through the eyes of his wife and daughters. Why did you not give Nathan a voice?
Because of what the story is about. Some people to seem to think this is a male/female issue, but that never even crossed my mind. He represents an attitude. This book is an allegory, in which the small incidents of characters’ lives shed light on larger events in our world. The Prices carry into Africa […]
What research helped you to recreate the world of missionaries to the Congo?
Obviously, I read a lot of books about the political, social, and natural history of Africa and the Congo. Some were famous and well-written, but most were obscure. I found some self-published memoirs written by missionaries to the Congo in the 50’s and 60’s, which were gems, giving me details of missionary life and attitudes […]
Why did you choose to tell the story from five points of view, and how did you make them sound so distinct?
I spent nearly a year getting the hang of the Price girls, by choosing a practice scene and writing it in every different voice. I did that over and over until I felt the rhythm and verbal instincts of character: Rachel’s malapropisms, Leah’s earnestness, the bizarre effects of Adah’s brain damage, and so forth. Adah […]
Did you ever live in Africa yourself?
I did. And I’m happy to say, my own experience was nothing like The Poisonwood Bible. My father worked for fifty years as a physician dedicated to medically underserved populations. Mostly he practiced in rural Kentucky, but occasionally he took our family to live in other places, where “medically underserved” is an understatement. We spent […]
The history of cultural, religious and economic imperialism in Africa is not an easy subject. What made you go there? And why, specifically, the Congo in 1960?
This story came from a long-term fascination with politics and culpability, and my belief that what happened to the Congo in 1961 is one of the most important political parables of a century. I’d thought about this story for a very long time, ever since the early 80’s when I read Jonathan Kwitny’s Endless Enemies, […]
I didn’t want this book to end, and in a certain way it didn’t. Do you plan to write a sequel?
I don’t plan on it. I never want to write the same book twice. What keeps me awake at the wheel, as a writer, is the thrill of trying something completely new with each book — new ideas, new settings, craft challenges I’ve never handled before. What makes my heart race is to dream up […]
What does “prodigal” mean?
Recklessly productive, wastefully extravagant, lavish, prolific. I thought it was the perfect word for describing nature in high season, when a maple tree is whirling thousands of seeds into the air. It does not mean “returning home.”