Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

In "Demon Copperhead," Barbara Kingsolver brings the plot and characters of Charles Dickens’s classic "David Copperfield" into the twenty-first century in a rural county in Virginia. This coming of age story deals with loss, abandonment, poverty, grief, and addiction in the present day, suggesting that the problems Dickens depicted in Victorian England remain far from solved. 

Throughout the book, Kingsolver plays off the names of the characters from David Copperfield for her own characters to great effect. The son of a teenage mother and a young man who died in an accident before his birth, Damon Fields inherits his dead father’s red hair (“Copperhead”), and his first name soon shifts into “Demon.” The loving Peggoty family from David Copperfield become the Peggots and their grandson Matthew, known as “Maggot.” 


When Demon’s sweet, hapless mother hooks up with Stoner, (“Mr. Murdstone” in David Copperfield), it’s clear the man views Demon as an unwanted burden to be shed at an opportune moment. Before that can happen, Demon’s mother and her unborn baby die of a drug overdose, pitching Demon into the foster care system. 

During a series of unfortunate placements, he meets people who will become recurring characters in his life’s story: the McCobbs; star football player “Fast Forward”; Tommy Waddell, and others.  He and his friends are forced to work, school being a low priority for most of the adults they encounter. Eventually he ends up in a happier home, living with a respected football coach and his daughter Angus. He is evaluated for the school’s Gifted and Talented program, and to his own shock, he scores high enough for admission. A sympathetic art teacher becomes his mentor. Coach is delighted with his athletic ability and soon he’s playing varsity football. But Demon’s promising football career is cut short by a serious injury and an ensuing addiction to pain pills. At seventeen he moves in with his girlfriend, Dori, who’s also suffering from addiction and grief. 

This is one of the more painful parts of the novel to read, as Demon tries to help Dori, when he’s so poorly equipped to even help himself. He knows he lacks the resources and life skills to pull them both out of their downward spiral, but he’s determined to be there in his imperfect way for her. What follows the inevitable crash is his one shot at real redemption and sobriety, but at a high cost. 

Kingsolver’s writing shines in "Demon Copperhead." She has passionate opinions about social issues, in this case, social class and income inequality. In Demon, she develops a character who, for all his problems, possesses strength and true kindness. He is in awe of and a little in love with Maggot’s Aunt June, a nurse practitioner who leaves her job in Knoxville to return to her hometown to help the community she grew up in as the opioid crisis takes a heavy toll. Like her, he has trouble imagining life anywhere except Lee County, even when it becomes clear that he needs to leave, at least for a while, in order to save himself. 

Demon Copperhead is a sprawling novel with plenty of characters to keep up with. One thing that made it easier was the single narrator and chronological plot. In a time when many novels offer multiple points of view and move back and forth through past and present, it was strangely relaxing to read a straightforward narrative from the perspective of just one character.It’s a book that will stay with you, full of unforgettable characters and moments both large and small. 

I received a free galley of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. 

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