Skip to main content
The first great political novel of the Trump era
JOHN GREEN recommends an acute portrait of a troubled and divided US by Barbara Kingsolver
Insightful: Barbara Kingsolver [David Wood]

Unsheltered
by Barbara Kingsolver
(Faber & Faber, £8.99)

IN THIS novel, Barbara Kingsolver carries forward the strong commitment to social justice and environmental care expressed so strongly in her previous books and demonstrates again that she is one of the US’s foremost socially critical writers of fiction.

Her narrative centres around an old house falling apart, a recurring symbol of social decay. It was built in a small US town which, created in the mid-19th century as a model community, is beholden to its wealthy entrepreneur founder who very much dominates and controls its citizens’ lives.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Adolf Hitler book pic
Literature / 21 July 2026
21 July 2026

GORDON PARSONS is intrigued by a pessimistic novel in which Hitler is removed from history, to little effect

Hamnet
Opinion / 20 January 2026
20 January 2026

JULIA THOMAS unpicks the mental processes that explain why book-to-film adaptations so often disappoint

west
Books / 20 November 2025
20 November 2025

BRENT CUTLER is intrigued by the imperialist, supremacist and contradictory history of a word that is used all too easily

malangatana
Book Review / 30 September 2025
30 September 2025

JOHN GREEN welcomes a remarkable study of Mozambique’s most renowned contemporary artist