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Demon Copperhead cover art

Demon Copperhead

By: Barbara Kingsolver
Narrated by: Charlie Thurston
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Publisher's Summary

Demon Copperhead is a once-in-a-generation novel that breaks and mends your heart in the way only the best fiction can.

WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2023

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION

SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES TAIT BLACK PRIZE FOR FICTION

THE MULTI-MILLION COPY SELLING AUTHOR

BOOK AT BEDTIME ON BBC RADIO 4

AN OPRAH BOOK CLUB PICK

Demon’s story begins with his traumatic birth to a single mother in a single-wide trailer, looking ‘like a little blue prizefighter.’ For the life ahead of him he would need all of that fighting spirit, along with buckets of charm, a quick wit, and some unexpected talents, legal and otherwise.

In the southern Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, poverty and addiction aren’t ideas. They’re as natural as the grass grows. For Demon, born on the wrong side of luck, the affection and safety he craves is as remote as the ocean he dreams of seeing one day. The wonder is in how far he’s willing to travel to try and get there.

Suffused with truth, anger and compassion, Demon Copperhead is an epic tale of love, loss and everything in between.
©2022 Faber & Faber (P)2022 Faber & Faber
Coming of Age Family Life Literary Fiction
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Critic Reviews

‘Daring, entertaining and highly readable’ The Times

'It's EPIC. Righteously angry, DEEPLY moving and exquisitely written.' Marian Keyes

‘Emotionally raw and riotously entertaining’ Spectator

What listeners say about Demon Copperhead

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Profile Image for Sharon smith

Deep and at times difficult, sarcasm breaks the tension. Great narration.

Deep and at times heartbreaking. Humorous sarcasm and descriptive narrative welcome relief from the realism.

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Great story narrated beautifully

Amazing story of the childhood of Demon Copperhead ,it's read beautifully, I couldn't't stop listening.

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Profile Image for Barbara Ann Labram

Amazing!

This has to be the audible book of the year for me. The narrator was perfect and the book is incredible.

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Profile Image for christiana O

Beautifully written and narrated

The characters and the story moved along seamlessly and intensely- I just loved the genuine compassion for the simplicity of rural life with its poverty but the appreciation of the richness of what it brought to those who lived it. Loved this book !

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Profile Image for Anonymous User

Raw and authentic

I’m so sad to leave this novel’s protagonist behind. Raw, real and captivating. Had to have the occasional time out to breath through the tragedy that is lower socioeconomic and the hardships that come with it but ultimately a book of hope, love and maybe even redemption. One of my favourites of 2022. Superb narration, too.

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Profile Image for Lauren Calder

Great

Great story. Great narration. Great characters. I enjoyed it. Sad to think it’s based on reality.

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Profile Image for Lucy Purchas

Unexpectedly Captivating

I loved the whole shebang!
If you read Empire of Pain and the catastrophic effect OxyContin had on America this is just another confirmation about the evils of the drug and how it can destroy lives! Thanks

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Profile Image for Katherine Henzell

Brilliant and compelling

This is a compelling and heartbreaking, yet somehow comical, retelling of Dickens’ David Copperfield set in Virginia during the opioid epidemic. Charlie Thurston’s performance is perfect. Loved this book!

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Maybe my favourite ever

This book is everything: beautifully written, rich characters, funny, sad, true, and perfectly narrated. I am so sad to have finished it.

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Profile Image for K Clarke

Kingsolver never misses

This book does that thing that books are supposed to do. Takes you deep, inside the mind of another, in my case, someone totally unlike myself.

How she does it, writes from the male perspective, I'll never know. But she didn't lose me once, Demon showed me his world and how he fit, or didn't.

He showed me a lot more than that.

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