Bookworm Cottage Style

This year we are diversifying our bookshelves, reading stories that highlight a range of lived experiences. For August I’ve curated a small selection about poverty. Although times are tight for many right now, I know that having a roof over my head and knowing where my next meal is coming from makes me luckier than most. These books (which are each absolutely fantastic in their own right) are great ways to learn economic injustice, American history, and how a little bit of empathy goes a long way. The first three books are nonfiction and the second two are novels. All are wonderful!

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn (2019; 288 pages) // Days after Raynor’s husband, Moth, was diagnosed with a terminal illness, Raynor and Moth lost their home and all of their money in a business deal gone wrong. Facing homelessness, Raynor and Moth decide to put one foot in front of the other and walk 630 miles from Somerset to Dorset along the sea-swept South West Coast Path in England. This incredible memoir details their journey and resilience. If you liked Wild, you’ll love this book.

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond (2016, 418 pages) // This book follows eight families in Milwaukee as they try to keep a roof over their heads despite exploitation, poverty, and circumstances beyond their control. This is one of the most profound nonfiction books I’ve read, and I highly recommend it! This book also won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction, the National Book Critics Circle Award, Carnegie Medal, and the PEN / John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction.

Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond (2023, 304 pages) // This is such a good book!! From the author of Evicted (recommended above), this book explores the roots and realities of poverty and income inequality in America, and what we can do to help mend it. This book is less narrative than Evicted but every bit as powerful. Highly highly recommend!

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah (2021; 464 pages) // The Four Winds is about a family whose livelihood is threatened by the Dust Bowl and Great Depression. As circumstances become more and more dire on their Texas farm, is the chance at a better life out west worth abandoning everything and everyone they know? This depression-era book about love, loss, and poverty was heartbreaking through the bitter end, and yet I couldn’t put it down. 

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (2022; 560 pages) // Demon Copperhead is a modern retelling of Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield, set in poor, rural Appalachia. I’m not keen on the classics so any references to the original work definitely went over my head. And yet I loved this book so much! I love a voicey narrator, and Damon (“Demon”) might be my favorite yet. Damon has a comically candid voice with some of the most vivid yet deadpan descriptions I’ve ever come across. Many parts of this book are very difficult to read. Addiction, trauma, and child endangerment run rampant. This book left me gutted but as one of the most beautiful stories of resilience, it also left me hopeful. But don’t just take my word for it. This book won the Pulitzer prize, was an Oprah’s book club pick, and was on a bunch of other “Best of” lists as well.