Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

I don't know where to start with this. I listened to Demon on audible and the narrator was incredible. I was utterly captivated by Demon's life. I ended up eeking out the last half because I didn't want to leave him and his friends behind. There is so much to admire about this novel and so much to enjoy. Demon will live on in my head. I don't think a character has felt as real to me in a very long time. It was sad and funny and real and gritty but also romantic and kind and that ending! A masterful recasting of David Copperfield, narrated by an Appalachian boy whose wise, unwavering voice relates his encounters with poverty, addiction, institutional failures and moral collapse-and his efforts to conquer them. - the Pulitzer

From the back

Demon Copperhead is a once-in-a-generation novel that breaks and mends your heart in the way only the best fiction can.

Demon's story begins with his traumatic birth to a single mother in a single-wide trailer, looking 'like a little blue prizefighter.' For the life ahead of him he would need all of that fighting spirit, along with buckets of charm, a quick wit, and some unexpected talents, legal and otherwise.

In the southern Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, poverty isn't an idea, it's as natural as the grass grows. For a generation growing up in this world, at the heart of the modern opioid crisis, addiction isn't an abstraction, it's neighbours, parents, and friends. 'Family' could mean love, or reluctant foster care. For Demon, born on the wrong side of luck, the affection and safety he craves is as remote as the ocean he dreams of seeing one day. The wonder is in how far he's willing to travel to try and get there.