A Good Read

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Fierce evangelical Baptist Nathan Price takes his wife, four daughters and his mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959, before its turbulent passage into independence as the state of Zaire. The story is told by his wife and daughters, a story of tragic loss, undoing, human endurance and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in post-colonial Africa.  
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I didn't want to put it down, but I didn't want to finish it! The author's subject knowledge is excellent, she writes with great empathy and has worked the thorny threads of religion, race and politics into a powerful moving novel.