The Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver (Harper Collins, 1988) ***

Barbara Kingsolver's best-selling first novel, The Bean Trees (1988), unfolds in Tucson, Arizona. A gutsy and outspoken young woman, Taylor Greer, has left her native Kentucky to strike out on her own rather than succumb to the dreary fate of her peers, where getting pregnant young and marrying the wrong man seems to be the norm. While sputtering west in a relic VW, she becomes the unwilling 'mother' of a Native American infant, whom she names Turtle. Out of money and with two flat tires, the two of them start a new life together in Tucson by moving in with a woman whose 'almost husband' has just left her (with baby, of course). They also meet some people who are helping refugees from the death squads in Guatemala, and begin to realize that their own problems are minor compared to those of so many others. Although the characters in this novel face unusual hardships, they are determined to maintain their sense of independence--and humor. You can't help but like these individuals and admire their spirit. And Kingsolver's use of language is almost poetic. This book is an easy and enjoyable way to restore your faith in the power of friendships.