What I like about Barbara Kingsolver's writing is that her novels each tend to involve/discuss (I hesitate to say centre around) current (or in the case of The Poisonwood Bible historical) events in a way that I don't find to be very common in popular fiction. In The Bean Trees, Animal Dreams, and The Prodigal Summer she tackles the Nicaraguan arms conflict, the Central American refugee situation, environmental racism, and wildlife conservation. I've seen reviews that criticize her for writing novels with an "agenda", but for me that's part of what makes her books so good.

i agree. i haven't read the poisonwood bible yet but i have read all of the others mentioned and i have to say i was reluctant to read her at first as well. i thought her feminism would a little too new-agey, earth mother-y for me. i'm so glad i decided to try her out anyway. her stories are unique and do have politics on the agenda but in such a way that the politics stay central but don't overtake the story. the sequel to the bean trees, pigs in heaven is also terrific.

i haven't read poisonwood bible yet, but i love kingsolver's The Bean Trees. the author's views on family and feminism changed my perspective on what "traditional" means.