Flight Behavior
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(as of Aug 11, 2025 07:23:32 UTC – Details)
New York Times best seller
Indie best seller
Barnes & Noble best seller
National best seller
Amazon Best Book of the Month
Indie Next Pick
Best book of the year: New York Times Notable, Washington Post Notable, Amazon Editor’s Choice, USA Today’s Top Ten (#1), St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Kansas City Star
Prize-winning author: Pulitzer Prize Finalist, Dayton Literary Peace Prize (Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award), Orange Prize for Fiction
Prize-winning author: National Humanities Medal, Pulitzer Prize Finalist, Orange Prize for Fiction, Dayton Literary Peace Prize (Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award)
“Kingsolver is a gifted magician of words.” (Time)
The extraordinary New York Times best-selling author of The Lacuna (winner of the Orange Prize), The Poisonwood Bible (nominated for the Pulitzer Prize), and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver returns with a truly stunning and unforgettable work.
Flight Behavior is a brilliant and suspenseful novel set in present day Appalachia; a breathtaking parable of catastrophe and denial that explores how the complexities we inevitably encounter in life lead us to believe in our particular chosen truths. Kingsolver’s riveting story concerns a young wife and mother on a failing farm in rural Tennessee who experiences something she cannot explain, and how her discovery energizes various competing factions – religious leaders, climate scientists, environmentalists, politicians – trapping her in the center of the conflict and ultimately opening up her world.
Flight Behavior is arguably Kingsolver’s most thrilling and accessible novel to date, and like so many other of her acclaimed works, represents contemporary American fiction at its finest.
Customers say
Customers find this novel to be a wonderful read with poetic prose and a captivating story that touches on many relevant topics, including climate change. The book features relatable characters, particularly the well-done mother-in-law character, and creates tremendous empathy for its inhabitants. While some customers find it well-paced, others say it’s quite slow.
Book Addict –
Enjoy the dance of a talented author
For months the book sat in my “to read” pile. Then I pulled it out and placed it on the coffee table. It teased me as I savored the anticipation building to the moment I opened the cover and began reading the poetry of Barbara Kingsolver’s prose.Flight Behavior, Kingsolver’s latest novel, did not disappoint me from the first word to the last, although there were some plot techniques that disconcerted me.The environmental theme interwoven throughout the plot was executed with a unique choice of characters as the mouthpieces. Using the monarch butterfly as the harbinger of ecological disaster captivated me from the first description of the main character, Dellarobia, when she encounters the unusual sight of thousands of monarchs clustered on tree limbs at the top of a mountain in Appalachia. She believes she’s seeing the apparition as a warning against the adultery she’s is about to commit, until her epiphany on the mountainside. Here’s the vision from Dellarobia’s viewpoint:”Unearthly beauty had appeared to her, a vision of glory to stop her in the road. For her alone these orange boughs lifted, these long shadows became a brightness rising. It looked like the inside of joy, if a person could see that. A valley of lights, an ethereal wind. It had to mean something.”Kingsolver received criticisms for her “preachy” tone on climate change. Readers who love her previous works, yet disagree with her politics in this novel, gave her harsh scores and reviews.I’m reviewing this book on its merits. But be forewarned – this book is entertaining and educational, if you want it to be. If however you’re the type of person who doesn’t wish to read anything other than what repeats what you already know and believe and if you believe the claims by scientists of climate change are bogus, don’t read this book. You’ll learn nothing and walk away muttering about the “tree hugger” author.I loved the book for creating a fictional “what if” picture. What if the monarchs, so unsettled by climatic changes in their wintering spot in Mexico, decided to roost in the Appalachian Mountains?Kingsolver creates a main character in Dellarobia who is a victim of her decisions in life and her circumstances. But never once did I feel sorry for this young mother burdened with the grief of the unmentioned dead baby that tied her down to the husband who is clearly not her match made anywhere. Dellarobia is going through her own “climate change” as she becomes an assistant to the scientists who have come to the mountain to study the anomaly. She becomes our interpreter of the complicated nature of shifting atmospheric patterns and the potential destruction of an entire species. The plot is woven around Dellarobia’s problems and that of the monarchs.One of the foils for Dellarobia is her mother-in-law Hester who is very unsympathetic and seemingly mean in the first half of the book. As Hester’s story unfolds, Kingsolver is able to deftly turn Hester into a completely sympathetic human character, flaws and strengths both on display.I didn’t like the transition between chapters. Often, Kingsolver would bring the reader to the brink of a breakthrough in discovery of both the human drama and the plight of the monarch, and then the chapter would end. I would eagerly begin the next chapter only to find the plot had moved ahead a few days. I also felt the ending was very quickly tied up in a nice little bow. Some of it was symmetrical, but much of it seemed as if Kingsolver was told by her editors to shorten the book so she rushed the resolution.Even with the few things I found disconcerting, I would still recommend this book if for nothing else than to enjoy the beauty of a skilled writer dancing her dance for our enjoyment. See for yourself:”A movement of clouds altered the light, and all across the valley, the butterfly skin of the world transfigured in response, opening all the wings at once to the sun. A lifting brightness swept the landscape, flowing up the mountainside in a wave Dellarobia opened her mouth and released a soft pant, anticipatory gusts of breath that could have become speech or laughter, or wailing. She couldn’t give it shape.”
mark jabbour –
about more than butterflies and climate change
Why bother. Why bother to write, to read, to write about what you read? Does anything matter or is it (human behavior) just something that happens regardless of our thoughts and intentions? Are we no more in control than insects? Why bother. Barbara King-solver’s (haha) latest novel is about those questions; and she’s hardly the first. I can draw a line from Ken Kesey’s Sometimes A Great Notion (1964) to Michael Crichton’s State of Fear (2004) to Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom (2010) to Kingsolver’s Flight Behavior (2012) and make an argument – either yes or no. On the surface all four novels are about environmental and human issues and their interaction: logging & unions, global catastrophe & corruption, strip-mining & bird watching, butterflies & global warming, & growing up, growing into yourself; but all four books are far more than what they are on the surface. They are more than story, characters, and craft – they are influence, some of which the authors likely had no idea of when they were writing and thinking and imagining. Of the four, IMHO, Kesey’s is the best – maybe the best novel ever written; Crichton’s was the most effecting and ironically, probably had the opposite effect of what he intended–was the most damaging; Franzen’s, again ironically, the most forgettable; and finally, ironically, Kingsolver’s at once both the smallest and biggest, the most hum-drum and most interesting.I almost quit her this time. I just wasn’t that into the story. It was humdrum – about people, a protagonist, a place, not all that engaging for me. But I didn’t. This is the fifth novel of Kingsolver’s that I’ve read, so I must like her, right? What I like is the way she thinks – her curiosity and imagination. Not so much her style or voice. Too many similes. If you were to take out the word “like,” the page count would substantially be reduced. So what is Kingsolver curious about here that finally caught up with me and grabbed my attention? It was the clash of worldviews that so dominates the politics of people today. It happened on page 138 with this: “How strange, she thought, to see the forest floor laid bare that way. It gave the impression of the earth as basically just a rock, thinly clothed.” See that? A metaphor for the story without simile: How one woman, trapped in a world by birth, not choice, was impacted by an unusual event, and then an opportunity to break out; and her struggle with the clash of worldviews thrust upon her. It was the ignorant, simple, incurious, religious interpretation and understanding of the world of a small, rural Appalachian town getting smacked in the face by the informed, curious, scientific, unstable and uncertain outside world that is. Dellarobia, the 28 year-old, married (to a dull man) with young children, protagonist comes face to face with the fact that she is not a simple minded girl, but a smart and curious creature who must leave- if she, her soul, is to survive -take flight, if you will. Flight behavior.Flight Behavior is a story that, many times, brought water to my eyes. It was the imprisonment of poverty and the unsophistication of the town and the family that she had married into that got me sympathetic. I felt for her and her children. She did not belong (she was orphaned early) but did not know what was wrong until the event and the outside world presented itself. What, for me, is sad also is that even though Kingsolver does a nifty trick in getting things to a hopeful end – I know that that is just a nifty literary trick. In the real world things are more grim, and that the best hoped for outcome is what people usually do – just muddle through, staying alive but not thriving.You want proof of that? Take Kesey’s great novel, written in the early 60’s with his “heroic” Stamper family, led by Henry and Hank, father and son, carving out a life in the Northwest by logging, with no regard for the larger world. Now we have Kingsolver’s novel, written 44 years later, with the “heroic” Turnbow family, Bear and Cub, father and son, carving out a meager existence off the land, with no regard for the larger world – and in each instance the women have no say, their purpose being only to bear children, cook and clean, and support the men. This narrow, “natural,” worldview still persists over much of the world and much of this country.It seems to me that a progressive, naturally evolving, worldview peaked in the 70’s; and that there has been a slow, but gaining, regression back to the `old ways.’ Thus, while I was rooting for Dellarobia and glad that Kingsolver ended the story the way she did. The “Story” doesn’t end there. The pull of the herd is great, and to try and break away and “improve” yourself is, while admired and cheered, is rare and getting harder.More evidence? Before Crichton’s novel it appeared that we (humans, the educated) might be able to head off global warming; but that one novel seemed to be just the thing needed for the herd to reverse course and go back. The book was waved in the chambers of congress as proof that the educated elitists (scientists, academics, and the media) were conspiring for personal gain, and lying to the herd about the negative consequences of unregulated and unrestrained use of resources. People just needed an excuse to say, “yes, that’s the world.” The world’s the way they believe it is.Franzen’s novel? More evidence of the negative consequences of the `old ways’ being cast aside for new ways, despite, as I said, being a forgettable story – it was widely hailed and read. There was not a “happy ending.” The Burglund’s, the heroic family, and society just barely muddled through.So, why bother? Are we simply tethered to our fate, which is determined by our history – events that have so much momentum there is no sense in trying to break away. As Henny Stamper tells Viv, Hank’s wife, “Why there’s eating and sleeping and working and fighting and screwing – that’s all there is.” And Kesey tells the reader:” … there is solace and a certain stoical peace in blaming everything on the rain, and then blaming something as uncomfortable as the rain on something as indifferent as the Arm of the Lord.” (p.382)And Kingsolver tells the reader:” … the Lord moves in mysterious ways.” (p.43)Why bother?That’s just what some of us do.
Wynne Kelly –
Climate change is one of the most urgent issues facing the planet. But the problem for the novelist wanting to write about this subject is how to do it without being too worthy and hectoring. Barbara Kingsolver gets round this by setting her story on a sheep farm in the poor and deeply religious Bible Belt. Most of its people are highly suspicious of scientists and are happy to believe that all disturbances in weather patterns are just part of Godâs plan.Dellarobia Turnbow is trapped in a dull marriage and is mother to two small children. She is bright but was unable to take advantage of educational opportunities when she was at school. Her whole life changes when she goes up a mountain on their farm and discovers a sea of orange fire â this turns out to be millions of Monarch butterflies who have had their migration pattern upset and are now off course. Dellarobia gains (unwanted) social media fame as people come to see this awesome sight. One visitor is Ovid Byron, an African American etymologist who stays on the Turnbowâs farm with a small research team.This is a turning point in Dellarobiaâs life as she learns more and more about the butterflies and how the environment can be fatally affected by outside events.Flight Behaviour is a stunning novel. The plot unfolds beautifully and the characters are incredibly well drawn. There is Dellaâs bitter mother-in-law Hester, her lummox of a husband Cub, her loyal best friend Dovey and the generous spirited church minister Bobby. Barbara Kingsolver has a brilliant eye for detail and Dellarobia exhibits a sharp wit throughout the book. When an environmental campaigner asks Dellarobia to sign a pledge to reduce her energy use she expresses puzzlement. She has no computer to leave on stand-by, she can rarely afford red meat, she canât afford to drive far, she buys secondhand clothes and she has never been on a plane.Just as we find out about the life cycle of butterflies, we see Dellarobia on her own cycle of turning into something admirable. The title âFlight Behaviourâ could refer to the butterflies or to our heroineâs own life choices.I hope I havenât made this sound too didactic. It is a perceptive book which is very funny in parts.One of the best books I have read all year â highly recommended.
Manon the Cat –
A wonderful book. poignent, yet dramatice in places. It makes you think about many things – love, the environment, the beauty of our world.The delivery problems however did not help!
L. Smith –
An engrossing, entertaining and educational read . . . with a small Appalachian mountain farm as the background, a young wife’s discovery of a huge colony of monarch butterflies changes her life and her relationships with family, church and community members. It also brings the feisty, warmhearted and determined heroine into contact with a monarch research biologist who takes up temporary residence at the farm to study the unique phenomenon as related to climate change. As The New Yorker states: “[Kingsolver’s] keen grasp of delicate ecosystems – both social and natural – keeps the story convincing and compelling.”
An –
Goed boek, vlot ontvangen
V –
Als ich mir das Buch bestellt habe, war ich sehr von der guten Qualität des Buches an sich überrascht. Wunderschönes Cover, hochwertiges Papier, da macht das Lesen richtig SpaÃ.Zum Inhalt: ich finde, dass Buch sollte jeder lesen. So eine berührende und inspirierende Geschichte von einer jungen Frau, die so viele aktuelle Themen tangiert, dass es einem als Leser oft zum Reflektieren anregt. Es ist zu einem meiner absoluten Lieblingsbücher geworden!