Demon Copperhead

My thoughts…

Based loosely on Dickens’s David Copperfield, Barbara Kingsolver has given us a story to remember. 11-year-old Demon Copperhead is the star of this novel, and boy, does his star shine brightly. Born in a trailer to a single mother in impoverished Appalachia’s Lee County and experiencing a somewhat good childhood, until his mother makes a disastrous decision to marry the abusive Murrell Stone (Stoner). Demon’s mother, not a very stable woman, dies of an opioid overdose, and Stoner has no intention of raising Demon on his own. Demon is handed over to foster services. As he navigates life in his new surroundings, he is challenged with hunger, poverty, child abuse, and child labor infractions. Even though Demon has no control over his life, he finds solace in his cartoonish drawings. Eventually Demon ends up with a guardian who cares and offers to train Demon on the football field. Playing high-school football finds Demon the attention he craves, and the high-school art classes offered- he excels in. All is going well until Demon is injured in a game and meets a doctor who prescribes opioids to numb the pain. This is when Demon’s star begins to fade. He is addicted to opioids and is now living with a girlfriend who is also addicted. Kingsolver writes with such clarity; allowing the reader to experience the pain and suffering of addiction while continuing to hope Demon can find a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. 

Do not let the page numbers scare you into not picking up this book. I promise you will not regret the time you devote to reading this one. Kingsolver introduces an unforgettable character with strength and grit while highlighting the devastation of opioids in a small rural community.