Throughout their whole lives, Willa and her husband have done the right thing: they went to college, got married, paid off their debts, lived together, had children, etc. However, how is it that at the peak of them finally gaining the security and benefits they so sorely need, they end up in a broken house with a grandson from a son and a daughter who recently arrived from Cuba, along with the husband's father who spews bigotry every which way? What went wrong? UNSHELTERED by Barbara Kingsolver attempts to answer the questions that are plaguing many people of the day.

Years ago I read THE POISONWOOD BIBLE by Barbara Kingsolver and I have to admit that I just fell in love with the story, the writing, the world building and so forth. In THE POISONWOOD BIBLE, Barbara Kingsolver tackled the issues of family and colonialism, asking the question of whether or not its worth it. In UNSHELTERED, Barbara Kingsolver dares to put a face and needs on why the political climate is the way it is; why there is aggression, fighting, and hatred when before there was tolerance, and the answers are neither easy nor beautiful to answer. Strangely enough, I also gained a lot of insight into a family member that supports the old system.

UNSHELTERED, just like THE POISONWOOD BIBLE, also contains a lot of beautiful descriptions as well as amazing life lessons that I didn't even consider until I read it, and I was thunderstruck when I learned about them. I found that UNSHELTERED is ultimately a tale of hope, that its possible to pick up pieces and become resilient. I know that UNSHELTERED is a book for our times; an extension of an olive branch between conservatives and liberals.

While there are a lot of elements that I loved about UNSHELTERED, one thing I found confusing is that the two stories didn't connect as I anticipated. Many times when I have read historical fiction, the past and the present found ways to obviously connect with one another, and in UNSHELTERED, there is a connection, but it's not very obvious until the very end on how the two stories connect and fully relate to the other.

For a reader that is seeking to know why the world has become volatile and why politeness and tender virtues have abandoned us, UNSHELTERED by Barbara Kingsolver will be a mind-blowing read.