This is a long novel that takes no time at all to read.

I don’t know about other readers, but for me any time there is a novel that switches time periods or character perspectives I usually acquire a favorite within the first few chapters. In this novel, Kingsolver didn’t give me a favorite character, she gave me a rich tapestry of families and neighborhoods to dive into so there was no disappointment when you saw a chapter ending and the switch coming.

Her detail of having the final words in one chapter be the title of the following one was the perfect, subtle, wordy tie in between the stories for a novel full of thematic connections. Kingsolver dives into her characters thoughts, fears, and loves so by the end of the novel we’ve explored plenty of ideas and themes. For me the two I connected with the most were clear and well explored through internal monologues, family dinner conversations, and even a dramatic debate.

First, the fact that life in America has always been full of struggle, disagreement, hope, and lack of security. Our two main characters, Willa and her family in the recent era (it must be roughly 2016 based on some political comments that thankfully add to the text without taking it over completely) and Thatcher and his family and friends in the 1800’s. They are both struggling professionally. Willa has lost her job as a magazine journalist and is trying to become a freelance writer while Thatcher starts out as a teacher inspired by new scientific writing and studies only to quickly discover he works in a school run by a man opposed to new ideas.

They both clash and take comfort in their friends and families and their conversations and thoughts. They both find connections in unexpected places and disagreements where they don’t anticipate them. And they both feel vulnerable.

As different as their career and family situations are, their struggles are deeply connected and feel relevant across generations of Americans. After all, how many of us have learned over the years that you can push new ideas, but you might pay a price? You can hope your hard work will lead to success, or at least security, but in spite of the story of the American Dream it is never guaranteed. You can build a family, but you cannot actually control if someone decides to leave.

The second dominant theme for me was the house in disrepair. It was both a connection to the family issues both Thatcher and Willa face, but it also a reality plenty of American have dealt with (and still have to deal with.) This one was especially powerful to me because I’m someone who grew up in a family who constantly did construction on beat up homes and sold them and moved when they were fixed up. This helped my family in a number of ways, but it also deeply changed how I think about property. I don’t have a childhood home where I spent my youth because I moved between several and for plenty of our time at each they were in the middle of being redone. (The scene where Willa finds her office full of construction dust struck quite a cord with me.) But it also meant I didn’t feel that heartbreak so many of my friends when we left home, not just about saying goodbye to their parents, but also their childhood bedroom. The room in that house had only been mine for a little while and it would soon be someone else’s. I think Americans often feel very strongly about the idea of a family home. The land, the property, they own it. Their family owns it. The reality for me has always been a bit different. In my life, I have often been part of the property’s history for a little while, not the sole main character of its story. Willa and Thatcher both learn the same lesson in this Vineland house.

This is a really great novel. It’s funny, sad, and thoughtful without being exhausting. There are things to love and drive you a bit mad about each and every character but they all feel real and full. But perhaps the most important balance Kingsolver strikes that makes this a really satisfying narrative is the one between the reality of the difficulties so many of us face and the hope that maybe we can manage it anyway.