Ready Reference Treatise: The Bean Trees

“The Bean Trees” was the first book written by Barbara Kingsolver. It was first published in 1988.

The story revolves around Taylor Greer, the protagonist of the novel. She happens to be a native of Kentucky. She finds herself in Oklahoma near Cherokee territory.

In the opening of the novel, a woman leaves an American Indian infant with Taylor Greer. The rest of the story deals with the experiences of the protagonist and the adopted child.

Taylor Greer names that child Turtle. The story describes the child’s early education and its growing up. The other significant characters in the story are Lou Ann, her roommate, Esperanza and Estevan, a Guatemalan couple and Mattie, who is the owner of “Jesus is Lord Used Tires.”

The Native American Parental Rights issues have also been touched in the novel.