Willa’s older son, Zeke, was on the fast track after graduating from Harvard but falls apart when his wife dies unexpectedly, leaving him with a newborn son. Just home from Cuba, where trouble has brought her to Willa’s doorstep, Tig is moody and antagonistic. Joining her in this house are her conservative, combative Greek father-in-law, who refuses to go on Obamacare even though his legs eventually need to be amputated due to diabetes, and her daughter, Tig, named after another rebellious teenager Antigone, who is a constant thorn in Willa’s side. Her husband, Iano, loses his tenured position when his college closes down in Virginia, and is only able to get a year long stint at a college nearby their “new” Vineland home. The chapter begins with a contractor telling Willa that her house is irreparable it should be torn down, it is in such bad shape.

In 2016, the year America will elect its 45 th president - the “Bullhorn,” as Willa Knox calls him - Willa has inherited 744 East Plum from an aunt. They truly feel they are without shelter. And though the physical setting stays the same, each protagonist in their respective time period must come to terms with the fact that their house is falling apart, as is the world around them. Kingsolver uses this setting - more specifically a shoddily built house with no foundation on 744 East Plum street - to establish two storylines: one takes place in 2016 and another in the 1870’s. Her new novel, Unsheltered, takes place in Vineland, New Jersey, a small dystopian community established by Charles Landis in the 1860’s that still exists today. So when I saw that her newest novel was set in New Jersey, where I grew up, I was excited.

Unsheltered by kingsolver