Pigs of Heaven

A friend recently loaned me Barbara Kingsolver's  sequel to The Bean Trees, Pigs in Heaven.  I had read the first book about Taylor and Turtle while visiting Dad at La Possada in Green Valley.  My sister found it in their library and laughed so often as she read it I had to read it too.   Pigs in Heaven begins 3 years later and Turtle, the adopted Cherokee daughter, is now six years old.  While on Easter vacation with her mother, Turtle sees someone fall into a tunnel of the Hoover Dam.  She later asks her mother how he will get out and Taylor turns around to find someone to rescue the man.  This leads to an appearance on Oprah.  A Cherokee lawyer sees the show and suspects that Turtle has been illegally adopted.  When she pursues it Taylor panics and whisks Turtle away from Tucson and their life with Jax, a musician.  Kingsolver effortlessly peoples this novel with many characters and draws you into their lives making you care about each one.  Although Taylor and Turtle desperately want to stay together, there are many light-hearted moments that give the reader a break from the desperation Taylor feels as she struggles to earn a living and keep Turtle.  Barbara Kingsolver 's Website