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The Bean Trees
The Bean Trees
Author: Barbara Kingsolver
Meet Taylor Greer. Clear-eyed and spirited, she grew up poor in rural Kentucky with two goals: to avoid pregnancy and to get away. She succeeds on both counts when she buys a '55 Volkswagen and heads west. But by the time our plucky if unlikely heroine pulls up on the outskirts of Tucson, Arizona, at an auto repair shop called Jesus is Lord ...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9780060915544
ISBN-10: 0060915544
Publication Date: 1989
Pages: 232
Rating:
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 533

4 stars, based on 533 ratings
Publisher: HarperPerennial
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed The Bean Trees on + 13 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 7
I loved this book. It has been added to my "keep" collection, and I don't keep that many so that's saying something. It is the story of Taylor Greer, a girl from Kentucky, who moves out west to Arizona. On the way she acquires an Indian child as her own. A wonderful read.
reviewed The Bean Trees on + 2 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 6
I've only read a couple of Barbara's books - and I need to read more. Down-to-earth stories about average folks going through average challenges. Yet the story is a page-turner. I felt like I knew the characters intimately and was rooting for good things to happen to them. Reading Kingsolver is kind of like rafting down a river. The story unfolds slowly, but there's always something interesting around the next corner.
reviewed The Bean Trees on + 80 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
I think I own this book, but I had to request a copy from the library in order to re-read it for a group discussion. I'm glad I did. Taylor and her friends and family are the sort of people I wish I knew in real life, human and flawed but really trying to do the right thing. Now I'm eager to re-read the sequel, Pigs in Heaven.
reviewed The Bean Trees on + 4 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
Loved this book! Barbara Kingsolver develops such interesting characters in her stories that you become instantly involved in their lives and want to see what happens next. A great read!
reviewed The Bean Trees on + 87 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Unlike any other book I have read. The central character becomes part of your life as you watch her go from adolescence to adulthood in the midst of difficult circumstances and a life lacking financial opportunities. You can't help but admire her determination as her story changes your perspective.
Read All 105 Book Reviews of "The Bean Trees"

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cyndij avatar reviewed The Bean Trees on + 1032 more book reviews
Appealing characters, good dialogue, good sense of place, with a sweet and moving story.
reviewed The Bean Trees on + 12 more book reviews
Ms. Kingsolver has a talent for writing hauntingly surreal and beautiful descriptions of the world around her. Very inspiring to me.

I would certainly recommend The Bean Trees as well as it's sequel Pigs in Heaven.

Book Wiki

People/Characters
Taylor Greer (Primary Character)
Turtle (Primary Character)

Genres: