Excellent.The story of a Cherokee child's adoptive mother's struggles to keep her daughter when the Nation wants the girl back. No real villains here except the conflicting needs of multiple characters and for the sad but resourceful history. Also a vehicle to explore the Native American culture in contrast to and as a component of American culture. Students of history can see similarities between the Cherokee and Scotch/Irish who ironically and tragically supplanted them in the Appalachians. La...

I'm not sure what to think of this continuation of The Bean Trees. I have loved most of Barbara Kingsolver's books but I wasn't so crazy about this one. I still love her style of writing and I think that is the only thing that kept me moving through the book. The big downfall is that I didn't care for the story...in The Bean Trees, the main character, Taylor, finds a three year old American Indian child in her car as she is driving cross country. She ends up adopting the little girl. In Pigs In

I'm a big fan of Barbara Kingsolver. As usual, this is many intertwined stories in one. This centers on the question of what defines a family? A horribly abused and orphaned Cherokee child is given to a stranger passing through a parking lot, and years later, the adoption is called into question. The Cherokee Nation must approve all adoptions of Cherokee children to non-Cherokee parents. So who's right? The adoptive mother who has loved and healed this child, or the nation that understands her h...

This is the sequel to the wonderful novel, The Bean Trees. For some strange reason, the books do not label each other as sequels, but the so very much are. Basic Summary: This picks up 3 years after the conclusion of The Bean Trees, when Turtle (who was thrust upon Taylor at a bar on the side of the road in Oklahoma) has fully settled into life with her Non-Indian mother in Arizona. Everything changes for them after Turtle is the only witness to a man falling down a spillway at Hoover Dam; an ev...

After my intense experience with The Bean Trees, there was no question that I would follow up with Pigs In Heaven as quickly as the library could deliver it to me. The audiobook is read by C J Crit, the same person who read The Bean Trees audiobook. That continuity was nice - it really felt like volumes one and two of the Taylor & Turtle chronicles. While I was relieved to have more of Turtle's story, and feel some kind of resolution of their family's story, I can readily admit that I preferred

As a diligent reader of The Bean Trees, I still love the profound characters in the book, but was sorely disappointed with the idiotic choices made by one of the main characters. Taylor Greer’s suitable decision making capabilities seemed to disintegrate at a record eating pace. She broadcasts nationwide via the Oprah Show that her adopted Cherokee daughter (Turtle) was abandoned in her car. Legally it’s documented that Turtle’s birth parents willingly gave her to Taylor, so should we be at all

Barbara Kingsolver’s novel, “Pigs in Heaven” is not only an entertaining read but an informative experience of Native American culture. The characters are unique and descriptions make this story come alive. Kingsolver continues to a superb storyteller with the ability to craft images. Being the second part of a two part story. She seemed to grow her characters since the first book in the series. The whole experience of the two books was fun. I highly recommend this novel as a delightful experien...

When I started reading this book I have no clue about the story is (blurb didn't help much). I thought it was my fault as I was reading the second book without reading book 1. So within first two chapters I thought I was reading a mystery but since the mystery was solved by the third chapter, I was clueless again about the direction of the story. But it was a recommendation so my friend asked me to have faith, hence I kept reading. So the story is about a Cherokee child, Turtle, who became famou...

The funniest part about my adoration of Barbara Kingsolver is that my favorite book of hers is not The Poisonwood Bible. In fact, of the three books of hers I have read now, that is probably my least favorite. Prodigal Summer still probably ranks as my favorite, followed very closely by this one, Pigs in Heaven. My biggest disappointment upon finishing this novel occurred when I went back to the library to find another Kingsolver book and discovered that the only one they had was actually a preq...

I just couldn't get into this continuation of Taylor and Turtle's story despite how much I loved meeting them in The Bean Trees. Pigs in Heaven catches up with the ladies three years after the close of the last book. They are happy and living in Tuscon but when they take a trip to Hoover Dam their lives change. The Cherokee Nation learns of Taylor's not-quite-legal adoption of Turtle and cites the Indian Child Welfare Act to request her be returned to the tribe, sending Taylor into a panic. Tayl...

I am so very grateful to have rediscovered Barbara Kingsolver. Her voice is timeless and her message resonates in our world today. Pigs in Heaven is a story of family and the extent people will go to maintain their family. Taylor’s adoptive daughter is a Cherokee Indian. A young lawyer, Annawake, challenges the adoption stating that according to law Cherokee children cannot be adopted without consent from the Cherokee Nation. This is an important book and a well-written story. The narrative shed...

I have a theory about the genesis of this novel. By the time she wrote her first novel, the beloved The Bean Trees, it’s clear that Kingsolver was already deeply invested in social justice issues. But she missed one when her protagonist, a young woman named Taylor, traveled through Cherokee tribal lands in Oklahoma just long enough to unwittingly rescue a battered native toddler dumped on her by a frightened aunt. And when Taylor returned, with the best of intentions, it was to fraudulently adop...

PIGS IN HEAVEN is the sequel to Barbara Kingsolver's book THE BEAN TREES. The novel continues the story of the Cherokee child named "Turtle" and her adoptive mother Taylor Greer. In this sequel, we find Turtle and Taylor living together in Tucson along with Taylor's boyfriend, a life that is not quite what would be called the most perfect of environments. They live in poverty, barely making ends meet. Although Taylor does her best, her income is limited, but she gives Turtle a lot of love, and a...

Pigs in HeavenBy Barbara Kingsolver4 starspp. 436.I read Kingsolver's Poisonwood Bible many years ago, before it became an Oprah book and I loved it. I loved her use of varying points of view and the voice of the children of the family and her description of life in the Congo. So, I purchased Pigs in Heaven and let it languish on my shelves for so many years that the pages turned yellow and it acquired that musty book smell that I adore. I am sure I would have let it languish there a few more y

I was looking forward to this sequel to The Bean Trees, which I quite liked. Taylor and her adopted Cherokee daughter Turtle are back, three years later. They got their 15 minutes of fame when 6-year-old Turtle witnessed an accident, saved somebody, and went on Oprah to talk about it. Unfortunately, a lawyer from the Cherokee Nation saw Turtle on Oprah and threatened to disrupt Taylor and Turtle's happy life together.I was so disappointed. The entire purpose of this book is to drive home The Poi...

This book is a sequel to The Bean Trees, in which a two or three-year-old Cherokee girl had been unexpectedly thrust into the arms of Taylor Greer while she was moving from Kentucky to Arizona. Taylor adopted the girl (in an unauthorized manner) and has given her a loving home. As the sequel opens, Taylor has moved in with boyfriend, Jax, a musician. Her daughter, Turtle, has been with Taylor for approximately three years. Taylor and Turtle take a vacation to Hoover Dam, where a dramatic episode...

I am just floored about how good Kingsolver's early books are. The sassiness just oozes out so naturally, it is breathtaking. This is a woman on a mission, but she is cracking jokes the whole way. Very surprised at how different the mood is from her later books, which heretofore were the only ones I was familiar with. Pigs in Heaven definitely deserves a star more than Poisonwood Bible or Flight Behavior, therefore I am going back to take a star off those two, even though I was very impressed at...

A sequel to The Bean Trees and I actually liked it better which is rare for me. The story centers around Taylor's illegal adoption of Turtle and the Cherokee nations attempt to get Turtle back. It studies the question of "best for the individual" vs "best for the group" and acknowledges both sides of the problem. The characters are very well written and developed. Barbara Kingsolver really takes you into the heart of her story. I also liked the exploration of what makes a family and how people n...

The sequel to The Bean Trees. The story starts three years later, and you get to find out what ultimately happens to Taylor and Turtle and Taylor's mother Alice. A little longer and more complicated than The Bean Trees, but just as enjoyable to read. I love all the interesting, unique characters and the way she weaves all of their lives together.I'm a contemporary woman, devoted to the single life, but I just might consider marrying a man who would do that to his television for me! :)

If you're a fan of The Bean Trees, then you should definitely read this one. Is what I want to say, but I should add a disclaimer. Some suspension of disbelief (convoluted plot devices) was required and some readers won't be happy with the "discrimination" in the books (Cherokee good, white bad). I personally had no problem with some plot contrivances to get the story going (witnessing a fall, get called by Oprah). I also liked how the author fleshed Taylor's character. While The Bean Trees port...