Extraordiarily fine . . . Kingsolver has a Chekhovian tenderness toward her characters . . . The title story is pure poetry.
—New York Times Book Review

Read Homeland and Other Stories and you will feel glad to be alive. You are delighted by a gifted storyteller. You are strengthened and healed by the toughness and tenderness she discerns in humanity's daily rounds.

Kingsolver is an extraordinary storyteller.

Kingsolver's humanity sounds the clearest note.telling us about characters in the middle of their days, who live as we really do, from one small incident of awareness to the next.

Delightful.

Kingsolver understands in an uncanny way the significance of the ordinary, the fleeting moment that may become lost or become catharsis. She writes with refreshing clarity, humor and honesty.

With this dazzling array of stories, demonstrating a wide range of characterizations, settings, situations and narrative voices, Kingsolver confirms the promise of her astonishingly accomplished first novel, The Bean Trees. Most of these dozen tales ring with authentic insights, leaving the reader moved, amused or enlightened. Kingsolver's knowledge of human nature, and especially domestic relationships, is breathtaking. She is able to convey the personalities and voices of such diverse characters as a feisty union organizer of Mexican ancestry; a young girl trying to be faithful to the legacy of her Cherokee grandmother; a life-scarred ex-con determined to go straight; an upper-middle-class wife and mother on a clandestine trip to the Petrified Forest with her lover; a middle-aged man whose cherished wife gives him an intimation of her mortality; a child from a poor farming family who befriends an outcast in her Kentucky community. Among the standout stories is ``Islands on the Moon,'' in which a single mother faces her pregnancy with added exasperation because her mother--also single--will be having a baby at the same time. Propelled by fresh, breezy dialogue, funny, tender and full of surprises, the story takes a poignant turn when the mother and daughter heal their estrangement on a portentous day. If the symbolism in a few of these tales is sometimes too obvious, Kingsolver handles every other narrative device with delicacy and subtle skill. First serial to Redbook and Mademoiselle. (June)

Kingsolver (Animal Dreams, Audio Reviews, LJ 1/95) offers a dozen tales of contemporary life that focus on relationships and the fragility of life and love. The central characters are all women or young girls who are struggling to understand themselves and those they love. In the title story, a child learns from her grandmother that home is not so much a place as it is a people and their history. In the concluding story, a tough-minded crane operator leads a wildcat strike and bears the consequences of her boldness with the sort of courage and determination that she hopes to instill in her children. All these tales of love, loss, and learning are told with insight and tenderness. There is a certain oral richness to these stories that renders them ideal for the audio format. Added to that dimension is the superb storytelling of narrator Paula Parker, who enriches Kingsolver's poetic prose with a variety of accents and voices. Highly recommended for all fiction collections.--Sister M. Anna Falbo, CSSF, Villa Maria Coll. Lib., Buffalo

"A dazzling array of short stories . . . Kingsolver's knowledge of human nature, and especially domestic relationships, is breathtaking." — Publishers Weekly

“Read Homeland and Other Stories and you will feel glad to be alive. You are delighted by a gifted storyteller. You are strengthened and healed by the toughness and tenderness she discerns in humanity’s daily rounds.” — Newsday

“Kingsolver’s humanity sounds the clearest note.telling us about characters in the middle of their days, who live as we really do, from one small incident of awareness to the next.” — Los Angeles Times

"Extraordiarily fine . . . Kingsolver has a Chekhovian tenderness toward her characters . . . The title story is pure poetry." — Russell Banks, New York Times Book Review

“Kingsolver understands in an uncanny way the significance of the ordinary, the fleeting moment that may become lost or become catharsis. She writes with refreshing clarity, humor and honesty.” — Detroit Free Press

“Kingsolver is an extraordinary storyteller.” — Chicago Tribune

"Delightful." — New York Woman

Kingsolver’s humanity sounds the clearest note.telling us about characters in the middle of their days, who live as we really do, from one small incident of awareness to the next.

Kingsolver is an extraordinary storyteller.