From Publishers Weekly
Feisty Marietta Greer changes her name to "Taylor" when her car runs out of gas in Taylorville, Ill. By the time she reaches Oklahoma, this strong-willed young Kentucky native with a quick tongue and an open mind is catapulted into a surprising new life. Taylor leaves home in a beat-up '55 Volkswagen bug, on her way to nowhere in particular, savoring her freedom. But when a forlorn Cherokee woman drops a baby in Taylor's passenger seat and asks her to take it, she does. A first novel, The Bean Trees is an overwhelming delight, as random and unexpected as real life. The unmistakable voice of its irresistible heroine is whimsical, yet deeply insightful. Taylor playfully names her little foundling "Turtle," because she clings with an unrelenting, reptilian grip; at the same time, Taylor aches at the thought of the silent, staring child's past suffering. With Turtle in tow, Taylor lands in Tucson, Ariz., with two flat tires and decides to stay. The desert climate, landscape and vegetation are completely foreign to Taylor, and in learning to love Arizona, she also comes face to face with its rattlesnakes and tarantulas. Similarly, Taylor finds that motherhood, responsibility and independence are thorny, if welcome, gifts. This funny, inspiring book is a marvelous affirmation of risk-taking, commitment and everyday miracles. Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
This debut novel follows the gritty, outspoken Taylor Greer, who leaves her native Kentucky to head west. She becomes mother to an abandoned baby and, when her jalopy dies in Tucson, is forced to work in a tire garage and to room with a young, battered divorcee who also has a little girl. With sisterly counsel and personal honesty, the two face their painful lot (told in ponderous detail). The blue-collar setting, described vibrantly, often turns violent, with baby beatings, street brawls, and drug busts. Despite the hurt and rage, themes of love and nurturing emerge. A refreshingly upbeat, presentable first effort by an author whose subsequent novels will probably generate more interest than this one. Edward C. Lynskey, Documentation, Atlantic Research Corp., Alexandria, Va.Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Jesse Larsen
Marietta Greer's mama called her Missy, because, according to family legend, when she was three, she stamped her foot "and told my own mother not to call me Marietta but MISS Marietta, as I had to call all the people including children in the houses where she worked Miss this or Mister that..." Her growing up years in Pittnam County, Kentucky, taught her two things: don't get pregnant, and get out as quick as you can. With Mama's expert training in old-car trouble-shooting, Marietta hits the road in her 1955 windowless, jump-start volkswagen, determined to rename herself after the first place she has to buy gas. Relieved at missing Homer, Illinois, and keeping her "fingers crossed through Sidney, Sadorus, Cerro Gordo, Decatur, and Blue Mound," she "coasted into Taylorville on the fumes." Now Taylor Greer, she discovers that car trouble can change more than just her name: when her rocker arm breaks in Oklahoma, she is "given" a baby; when she has two flat tires in Tucson, she limps into Jesus Is Lord Used Tires, where she begins to learn that her troubles are minor compared to people hiding from Guatemalan death squads. The Bean Trees is written in the spirited language of a Kentucky-raised working woman with a generous heart and an audacious imagination. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14.

ANNOTATION

A "warmhearted and highly entertaining first novel...." --Kirkus Reviews

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Clear-eyed and spirited, Taylor Greer grew up poor in rural Kentucky with the goals of avoiding pregnancy and getting away. But when she heads west with high hopes and a barely functional car, she meets the human condition head-on. By the time Taylor arrives in Tucson, Arizona, she has acquired a completely unexpected child, a three-year-old American Indian girl named Turtle, and must somehow come to terms with both motherhood and the necessity for putting down roots. Hers is a story about love and friendship, abandonment and belonging, and the discovery of surprising resources in apparently empty places.

Available for the first time in mass-market, this edition of Barbara Kingsolver's bestselling novel, The Bean Trees, will be in stores everywhere in September. With two different but equally handsome covers, this book is a fine addition to your Kingsolver library.

FROM THE CRITICS

Los Angeles Times

The Bean Trees is the work of a visionary.... It leaves you open-mouthed and smiling.

Cosmopolitan

An astonishing literary debut....For a deep breath of fresh air, spend some time in the neighborhood of The Bean Trees.

San Francisco Chronicle

So wry and wise we wish it would never end....The chatty, down-home audacity of Barbara Kingsolver's remarkable first novel hooks us on the first page.

Ms.

A major new talent. From the very first page, Kingsolver's characters tug at the heart and soul.

Glamour