Demon Copperhead

　　致敬狄更斯經典名作《塊肉餘生記》
　　2023普立茲小說獎得獎作品
 
　　本書主角Demon Copperhead，11歲，身上除了遺傳到已死去父親的姣好面容以及一整頭銅褐色的頭髮外，一無所有。原本和母親住在阿帕拉契南邊的維吉尼亞洲某個小鎮上，但卻在Demon11歲日當天，他那個年輕的媽媽又因為毒癮問題，最終他被迫面對不斷在寄養家庭中游移的生活。 
 
　　Demon個性聰明而狡猾，天生便有強烈的求生能力，幫助他面對一個個來來去去的寄養家庭，他知道活下來的唯一道路，只能靠自己。最後，他來到一個高中足球教練的寄養家庭，Demon也成為了當地的明星球員，同時交到了女朋友。然而一場意外，卻使他的運動選手生涯匆匆落幕，讓曾經發生在母親身上的惡夢，也重現在Demon的身上。無奈、貧窮、失去，Demon要如何真正地認知自我？(文／博客來外文館)
 

　　From the acclaimed author of The Poisonwood Bible and The Bean Trees, a brilliant novel that enthralls, compels, and captures the heart as it evokes a young hero’s unforgettable journey to maturity

　　Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. Relayed in his own unsparing voice, Demon braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.

　　Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens’ anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can’t imagine leaving behind.