Demon Copperhead

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2023

Shortlisted for The Orwell Prize for Political Fiction 2023

Shortlisted for the James Tait Black Prize for Fiction 2023

Shortlisted for the British Book Awards Pageturner Book of the Year 2024

'First I got myself born.'

And so begins the tale of Demon Copperhead: a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father's good looks and copper-colored hair, bucket-loads of charm and a talent or two the world is yet to discover. We befriend Demon on this, his journey through the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, the dizzying highs of true love, and the crushing losses that can accompany it.

It's impossible not to fall hard for this hero who has just made your acquaintance, as you hurtle through these pages wishing you could reach into the pages save him from hardships or steer him to the rays of light that shine through even his darkest days.

Inspired by the unflinching truth-telling of David Copperfield, Kingsolver enlists Dickens' anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon is the voice of new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can't imagine leaving behind. This young man is about to steal all our hearts.