The novel is narrated by Damon Fields (a naughty redhead nicknamed Demon Copperhead). He is born in the late 1980s in an Appalachian trailer to a teenage drug user and grows into a boy and young man who, despite his appalling life of poverty and abuse, is an enormously likable character - witty, kind, clever, creative and tough.  Because he is so appealing, reading the novel remains a pleasure, despite the horrors of Damon's life in opioid-fuelled rural Lee County, Virginia. 

The novel gallops along at a cracking pace, introducing us to a myriad of fascinating characters along the way, from young Demon’s next-door neighbours (and life-savers) the Peggot family, to his hideous step-father Stoner, unbearable foster parents, all kinds of (good and bad) schoolteachers, careworkers, mentors, friends, coaches, dealers, addicts, colleagues, lovers, and saviours.  The ride, while rocky, is never ever boring. 

The novel takes its narrative structure from Charles Dicken's novel David Copperfield. Demon Copperhead, like David Copperfield, is a powerful critique of social injustice and is concerned with institutional poverty and its damaging effect on children. The Kingsolver novel doesn’t require any prior knowledge of Dicken’s work, though the numerous references and echos offer a lot to those who are familiar with it.  

Demon Copperhead is arguably Kingsolver’s best novel yet -  one reviewer described it as “the book she was born to write”. It was named one of the “10 Best  Books of 2022” by The Washington Post and The New York Times. With a main character who readers will love, and many lines as brilliant as the opening one, it's hard not to agree.