I thought this book was exellent, Kingsolver does a great job depicting the political situation of the Congo throughout the end of the 20th century by personalizing it with characters that any reader can relate to. Although she depicts the ignorance of western cultures, I feel she does it in a way that educates instead of outright offends her readers, making us all question what role we, as Americans, have in this cultural arrogance. For people who enjoyed this book, I encourage you to read Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. This book is more dificult to understand than Kingsolver's, but the parallels between the two novels are very interesting, especially being written over a century apart.