Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

I read this for ATY 2019 topic 21: a book from one of the polarising or close call votes. I chose a polarising prompt from poll 13: a book in which faith or religion play a role in a main character's life or decision making. Here's an extract from the GR synopsis:
... Willa Knox has always prided herself on being the embodiment of responsibility for her family. Which is why it’s so unnerving that she’s arrived at middle age with nothing to show for her hard work and dedication but a stack of unpaid bills and an inherited brick home in Vineland, New Jersey, that is literally falling apart. The magazine where she worked has folded, and the college where her husband had tenure has closed. The dilapidated house is also home to her ailing and cantankerous Greek father-in-law and her two grown children: her stubborn, free-spirited daughter, Tig, and her dutiful debt-ridden, ivy educated son, Zeke, who has arrived with his unplanned baby in the wake of a life-shattering development.

In an act of desperation, Willa begins to investigate the history of her home, hoping that the local historical preservation society might take an interest and provide funding for its direly needed repairs. Through her research into Vineland’s past and its creation as a Utopian community, she discovers a kindred spirit from the 1880s, Thatcher Greenwood. ...

I consider Kingsolver a magnificent writer so was keen to read this book. However, I wasn't as taken with it as I have been with her earlier novels (most notably Flight Behavior and The Lacuna). The connection between the two timelines seemed rather heavy-handed, and I'm afraid I was irritated rather than intrigued by the use of the final phrase of each chapter as the title for the following chapter. (Perhaps I would be more impressed by this if I were to re-read the book looking for the link; frankly (and unusually), I'm not terribly motivated to start this book again.)

I thought the political commentary forming the subtext was rather repetitious, but wonder whether this is because I'm not American, and so missed nuances which alleviate the repetitousness. The connection between the current political climate in the USA and attitudes towards Darwinism highlighted by Kingsolver is certainly productively provocative, but I'd have appreciated the more subtle touch characteristic of Kingsolver's previous fictional work.

I agree with you MN. Normally I am fascinated by Kingsolver's books, but this time I felt like I was being preached to.

It's such a pity isn't it, Lizzie. Barbara Kingsolver had a wonderful track record. I plan to read her essay collection High Tide in Tucson in the near future as antidote.

Marguerite (aka MN)