Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver — A five-star (plus) book

Demon Copperhead has been on my to-be-read list since I received the hardcover for Christmas in 2023. I knew it was going to be great. After all, Demon Copperhead won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2023 and I expected nothing but amazement from Barbara Kingsolver, celebrated author of The Poisonwood Bible and many other fantastic books. But, I am a mood reader and had put off this read for two years. Now, it’s a solid top book for my 2025 Reading List, and may be a part of my all-time favorites catalog.

Summary of Demon Copperhead (No Spoilers)

Damon Fields is a young boy growing up poor in the southern Appalachian Mountains within Virginia. His teenage mother is an addict and still grieving the death of Damon’s father, who died before seeing his son born. The only things Damon knows about his birthright is that he shares his father’s same coppery hair and fiery temper, resulting in Damon’s moniker: Demon Copperhead, and that his mom nearly died giving birth to him. Much of the world is a mystery to Demon, as his life is full of absence, loss, and hardship, which he narrates to us as he ages into adulthood. Demon tells the story of his struggles, abandonment, abuse, and anger, making vivid observations about Appalachian life, stereotypes, and more. As he grows and meets a plethora of deeply memorable supporting characters, Demon explores his worthiness and humanity.

“The first to fall in any war are forgotten. No love gets lost over one person’s reckless mistake. Only after it’s a mountain of bodies bagged do we think to raise a flag and call the mistake by a different name, because one downfall times a thousand has got to mean something. It needs its own brand, some point to all the sacrifice.”

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (page 112)

What I Enjoyed about Demon Copperhead

Demon Copperhead is Ms. Kingsolver’s massive saga inspired by Charles Dickens’s titular character in David Copperfield. Her interpretation is a contemporary critique on society, and it is well-deserving of praise. Here are some of the reasons I loved this book.

Demon Copperhead

Like Mr. Dickens, Ms. Kingsolver focuses her story on a young, put-upon boy who experiences the cruel world, critiquing society’s barriers of class, education, and wealth. It is a true experience to read the world through Demon’s eyes. He shows his innocence as a young boy exploring the woods and climbing into abandoned cabins, but he’s as deeply flawed as any human being. His circumstances define those flaws: first with his drug-addicted mother living in deep poverty, and then with cruel players who latch on to Demon to use him for their own gain. He is a memorable narrator, with his keen and brutally honest observations on his surroundings. He is a boy who doesn’t want to do wrong, but he has very little guidance in how to become a man. What he learns, he learns by being scrappy and by knowing that anything good can disappear at any moment.

Supporting Characters

The characters around Demon are just as memorable as he is. For example, Mr. and Mrs. Peggot are the aging couple next door to Demon and his mother. They have raised their many children and are now guardians to their grandson, Matthew (Maggot), who is Demon’s best friend. Mr. and Mrs. Peggot care for Demon when they can, giving advice and shelter when possible, providing a solid adult presence in his life. Then there is Fast Forward, the enigmatic foster brother who Demon idolizes. Fast Forward shows trauma much like what Demon has experienced, but he capitalizes on his athleticism and looks to elevate himself and rule the foster home. And then Agnes, Emmy, and Dori, three illusive and hypnotic teenage girls, lead Demon in all directions with their willfulness and views on what is best for Demon.

Plot Themes

Demon Copperhead is about resilience, ultimately, but to get there, we have to explore the disturbing environment in which Demon lives. Ms. Kingsolver addresses poverty, prejudice, prescription drug abuse, and parenthood in many ways. She shows the pain of being an unwanted foster child with no ties to a family while critiquing Purdue Pharma and the drug pushers that bring oxycodone, fentanyl, and addiction to Lee County, where Demon and his collection of supporting characters reside.

Ms. Kingolver describes the descent into addiction as if you are in the story yourself, whether in the room as they’re pulling apart fentanyl patches or in the car waiting to swap one prescription for another. She captured the full weight of one community’s addiction epidemic: financial devastation, ruined lives, and lost minds. As I was reading Demon’s narrative, I couldn’t help but think, I would not survive this in real life. Yet, as well-documented, the opiod crisis is rampant, including more than 6,000 drug-overdose-related deaths in Virginian since 2021 and a $5-billion financial impact in one year (Virginia Department of Health, Drug Overdose Data; Virginia Department of Health, Cost of Addiction).

My Final Thoughts on Demon Copperhead

Not being a Dickens fan, I have not read David Copperfield, but reading Demon Copperhead is the push that may get me to finally check out the original inspiration. This book is one that breaks your heart, angers you, and makes you chuckle. It is a book of immense meaning, drawn from the mountains of Appalachia, to show that children are possibly the most observant of us all. Read this book, please.