Finished: Demon Copperhead (Kingsolver) Barbara Kingsolver won the Pulitzer Prize for this modern-day retelling of Dickens’ David Copperfield. It is a beautifully written book that transported me immediately to the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia and into the thoughts and experiences of Damon Fields, aka, Demon Copperhead. Though it seems unfathomable, I believe Demon Copperhead was even more intense and tragic than David Copperfield. David Copperfield is #10 on my list of Top Books and #36 on my list of Favorite Books.

When I re-read my blog recap of several years ago about David Copperfield, I could see that I used to write much longer, more detailed, and introspective recaps. Personal time has not been as readily available these last few years, but it was interesting to go back and read that one to compare. I will include that blog entry, and some character “who’s who” at the end of this one!

Demon Copperhead is set in the 1990s when the oxycontin crisis struck, planting very deep roots. Born in a small town in the Virginian Appalachian Mountains, Demon lived a very poor existence as a child. Both stories are about a boy who is orphaned at the very young age of 9, after being raised by a single mother, their fathers having died before they were born. In Demon’s case, his mother is also a recovering drug addict. They live in a trailer on the land of the generous Peggot family, the grandparents of Demon’s best friend, Matt. The Peggots become practically surrogate grandparents to Demon. Demon’s mother (who is never given a name in the story) falls for Murrell Stone, a man who charms her and marries her, and then shows his true colors, turning physically and emotionally abusive. He thinks that her love for Demon, and their close relationship is weird, so he 8insists that she distance herself from Demon. He sends Demon off to a horrible boarding school and proceeds to get Demon’s mother hooked on drugs again. Demon comes home on a break to find out that his mother is pregnant, and he is happy at the thought of having a little brother. That happiness is short-lived when Demon’s mother dies of a drug overdose, taking her future child with her. Thankfully Demon isn’t left to be raised by the evil Murrell Stone, but he does become the victim of two different nefarious foster homes. At the first one he meets some friends for life, Fast Forward, who became tragic and Tommy, who made something of himself. In the second home he was basically just being used for the foster care money. The first home is run by tobacco farmer, Mr. Crickson. Mr. Crickson is physically and emotionally abusive to the boys living there and expects them to miss school to bring in the tobacco at harvest time. Fast Forward is a former football star at the high school Demon will attend. He introduces Demon and the rest of the boys at the home to drugs. He is very charismatic, however, and has them all under his spell and thinking he is their best friend. Tommy, who enjoyed drawing like Demon did, actually goes and makes something of himself. After leaving the farm, Demon doesn’t see Tommy for several years, but when he does, Tommy is working at the local newspaper.

Demon’s next foster home is only minimally better, when he goes to live with the McCobb’s and their young children. His room is in a dingy, large closet and he’s made to either starve or work for money to pay for his food…food that is supposed to be paid for by the foster care stipend they receive each month. Demon soon wearies of this life as well and sets out to find his father’s mother and see if he’s still got some familial connection. He finds his grandmother, Betsey Woodall, who lives with her physically impaired brother, Dick. Betsey can’t believe how much Demon looks like her deceased son and is happy to have him in her life. Paying all the bills, she arranges for him to go and live with the football coach in town, to attend high school and hopefully make something of himself. Coach Winfield is a widower who has a quirky daughter, Angus, who is the same age as Demon, now 14. They become the absolute best of friends. Both having lost their mothers at a very young age, they teach each other things. For instance, Angus has not celebrated Christmas since her mother died and Demon shows both Angus and Coach how to bring that season back into their home and hearts. And Demon, having never really known the embrace of a loving family and comfortable home, learns to accept that Coach and Angus both really care for him.

By the next year, the naturally talented Demon has become a football star under the tutelage of the coach. Despite his talent and finally being someone at school that people not only recognized, but admired, Demon’s football career ends after the first season when, at the championships, he suffers such a hard tackle that his knee is horribly displaced. The team doctor, who we later find out dispenses illegal prescriptions to oxycontin addicts, insists that Demon will be fine with some pain pills, so the coach goes along with it. Everyone else recommends surgery so that he will eventually be able to actually use his knee again, but the doctor convinces the coach that the pills are the way to go. Of course, those pills are oxycontin and Demon becomes addicted when he's only 15 years old.

Unlike David Copperfield, who goes on to make something of himself with the benefit of his aunt, Demon sinks further into oxycontin addiction. When he falls for a new girl, Dori, fentanyl is added to the addiction as well. He feels like he fails the team, fails the coach and fails at life so he drops out of school to live with Dori, who also dropped out of school to take care of her sick father, her mother having passed away a few years before. They are both only about 16 when they fall in love but it's a spiral of mutual addiction and they both go further and further down the drain. Demon’s grandmother comes to visit and when she sees that he's dropped out of high school and is spiraling on drugs she withdraws the money she has supported him with. Both Demon and Angus, who often nurses Demon through drug hangovers, hide the truth about Demon’s drug addiction from the coach. He also hides his level of pain from the coach, but Coach soon sees for himself that Demon will not be playing football again.

Demon sinks to his lowest low when Dori who is just not interested in life after her father dies, stops eating and dies from a drug overdose. Following almost immediately Fast Forward, who is still driving around trying to influence boys and sell drugs, insists that Demon meet him at the Devil’s Bathtub, a local swimming spot that happens to be the same spot where Demon’s father drowned. The Devil’s Bathtub is described as having crystal-clear, aquamarine-colored water and being cold enough to "squelch the fires of hell".  Demon has never been there, but goes there to confront Fast Forward, who, in his arrogance, decides he can dive off a cliff into the water. When he does, he hits the rocks instead and dies. After so much tragedy in his recent past, Demon finally takes Mrs. Peggott's daughter, June, a nurse, up on her offer that she’ll pay for him to go to rehab to kick his drug addiction. (June is a great character who becomes an instant advocate against doctors prescribing oxycontin, to no avail.)  Demon spends three years away, gets clean, meets and sees a wonderful therapist and stays away from his hometown. When the high school decides to throw Coach a retirement bash, Demon cautiously returns to his hometown. By now his touchstone Angus, who he's been able to call on throughout the years, arrives back in town from college. Rather than attending the celebration for Coach because he thinks it will be too difficult, Demon goes to see his grandmother who's very proud of him for getting his life cleaned up. He tells her he’s nervous to see the coach and Angus, who he has started to wonder if he has more than feelings of friendship for. His grandmother implies that Angus has loved a boy for many years but would be happy to see Demon. Demon thinks he's walking into Angus having a boyfriend when he visits their old house that is now being packed up. Little does he know that it's Demon himself who Angus has been in love with all these years. When they see each other in person, the more-than-friendship looks between them are clear.  They share a first kiss and decide to drive to Virginia Beach so Demon can finally see the ocean he’s always been hours away from, but never seen. As the book ends, they drive away with Demon’s arm tentatively placed around Angus’ shoulder.  Unlike in David Copperfield, we don’t get the happily ever after chapter of marriage and children with newfound love. We are left to assume that ending, or not, for ourselves. I’m definitely assuming the happy ending for Demon and Angus. 😊

Here are how some of the Demon Copperhead representing David Copperfield characters:

Damon Fields (Demon Copperhead)                                             David Copperfield

Angus Winfield                                                                              Agnes Wickfield

Mrs. Peggott                                                                                   Pegotty (Tiny David’s loving nurse)

Murrell Stone                                                                                  Edward Murdstone

Fast Forward                                                                                   Sterling Ford

Tommy Waddell                                                                              Tommy Traddles

Grandma Betsey Woodall                                                               Aunt Betsey Trotwood

Dick, Betsey’s brother                                                                     Mr. Dick, Betsey’s boarder

Dori  Spencer                                                                                   Dora Spenlow

Jip (Dori’s dog)                                                                                Jip (Dora’s dog)

Mr. Crickson                                                                                    Mr. Creakle

Mr. & Mrs. McCobb                                                                        Mr. & Mrs. McCawber 

Last but not least…U Haul                                                              Uriah Heep

(U Haul is a menacing character who terribly mistreats Demon but has the trust of Coach and ends up swindling him. Uriah Heep is an equally despicable character in David Copperfield!)

 

Here is my blog from years ago about David Copperfield:

Finished: David Copperfield (Dickens) Oh my, what a good book! Of course, with an opening line like..."Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show", I couldn't have expected any less! In this journey of reading books, I can always count on Dickens to give me beautiful writing that draws me into the joy mixed with heartbreak, terrible reality mixed with hopeful dreams, and such vivid characters, descriptions and conversations, that it is like I'm always there viewing the action from a little corner of the horse cart. As I approach having read 250 books in the past 19 months, I am pretty sure I can count on ONE hand the number of books that have had a happy ending, and David Copperfield turns out to be one of them. Oh, poor David goes through so many horrific, abusive experiences to get there, but he does in fact get a happy ending. :-) It was so difficult to read about the early years of his life, though. I just wanted to snatch him right out of the pages! David's father having died before he was born, David's mother and nurse, and David become a tight, inseparable, loving trio until David is about 8 years old. Then, David's mother is courted by a horrific man named Mr. Murdstone. Just the name brings shudders! Of course, Murdstone pulls the wool over the eyes of Mrs. Copperfield, and pretends to be a pal to David, but the minute she marries him, he becomes the domineering, evil man that he is and bullies her into submission to the point where she's not even allowed to hug or kiss her own son, or show any emotion towards him whatsoever. Then, he arranges for David to be sent to an awful school for boys where the headmaster, a former prison warden, is mercilessly, physically abusive to the boys. When David goes home for the Christmas break, he is made to feel like an unloved stranger in his own house. And...he's just a little boy. :-( We are privy to all his thoughts and emotions, and it's just heartbreaking. Mr. Murdstone's evil sister, Miss Murdstone, has also moved in with the family at this point and between the two of them, they keep David's mother browbeaten into submission. The loyal nurse and friend, Pegotty, can't defy them or they'll fire her and she wants to stay close to David's mother to help her as much as she can. When David arrives home, he sees that he has a new baby brother, who he instantly loves! His mother is thrilled to let him hold him. David's mother, Pegotty, David and the new baby have a wonderful evening like old times, because the Murdstones are out on a social call. When they arrive back home, though, the horror continues. David's not allowed to go anywhere near the baby, and his mother must refrain from showing any emotion towards him. His mother is also a bit sickly and weak after the birth. There is one moving page of dialogue where David sums up his feelings of not being wanted around the house, and of him actually looking forward to going back to the abusive school for boys, since he has made a couple of good friends there. One snippet of the lament stayed with me...."What meals I had in silence and embarrassment, always feeling that there were a knife and fork too many, and that mine; an appetite too many, and that mine; a plate and chair too many, and those mine; a somebody too many, and that I! - what a blank space I seemed, which everybody overlooked, and yet was in everybody's way". David hasn't been back at school long when his 9th birthday arrives. He's called to the headmaster's office, hopefully wondering if maybe they do something nice for a boy on his birthday, only to be told of a letter from home that his mother and baby brother have both died. His mother had been sicker than anyone knew after the birth, and the baby brother didn't live much longer after she died. Poor David is devastated. He goes home for the funeral, not realizing that it is also the last time he'll see his good friends he has made. With his mother dead, Mr. Murdstone doesn't send David back to school. He sends him to work with the lowest of the low in his run down, rat infested wine factory. David's one hope for the future before that was that he was at least being somewhat educated and surrounded by other boys being somewhat educated. Now, he is thrust into the life of the lowest socioeconomic status, made to live by himself in a rundown "let", made to fare for himself in terms of food, comfort, etc. Again, he's only 9 years old. :-( David finally makes up his mind to run away and find the long lost aunt he had always heard about, Miss Betsey Trotwood. He does this, and shows up on her doorstep as a dusty, starving urchin. Having only heard stories of how rigid and unloving she had been to his own father for years and years, David is desperate to beg her for her help. Moved beyond words, and not nearly the old bitty that he had come to expect, Aunt Betsey Trotwood takes David into her home and her heart. His turnaround is immediate! :-) David is sent to a wonderful school, he is fed, and clothed, and most of all nurtured by his aunt and her friends. I can't possibly recap the entire book here, or I'd be typing forever. I'll just smile in the knowledge that even though there are many more hardships to come, David does end up happy in the end, and with the one true love he didn't realize was his one true love until he grew wise enough from his experiences to realize it! Yes, there were some of the most evil characters that David has to face: Mr. Murdstone & Miss Murdstone, making appearances throughout his life; the slimy, duplicitous Uriah Heep; Mr. Creakle, the evil headmaster with the zealous whip. And, there are some of the kindest characters who help develop every good and strong aspect of David: Pegotty, the faithful and beloved nurse from the time he is born; Aunt Betsey, his benefactor in heart, strength, advice, and means; Mr. Dick, the "simple" friend of Aunt Betsey's who teaches David that there is always honesty and honor to be found in that simplicity; Mr. Pegotty, Pegotty's brother, who teaches David about compassion, fierce love, determination; Tommy Traddles, who teaches David the true meaning of friendship; Dr. Strong, David's second, schoolmaster, the antithesis of Creakle, and a lifelong mentor and friend; even David's mother, Clara, who at least starts him off in life with kindness and love, even though she is tortured into not demonstrating those feelings; and last, but not least, Agnes...the true love of David's life, and his guide, his angel, his conscience, who teaches him, without him even knowing it, about true unconditional love. Of course, there are also the "characters" of the book, and I mean true "characters", who David meets along the way who have great influences on his life: James Steerforth, his charismatic, charming, too-good-to-be-true friend who David adores and worships, who ends up selfishly performing an act that devastates many characters, including David; Mr. Micawber, with his verbose letters of woe and conundrum and his wife, Mrs. Micawber, who float in and out of David's life in their poverty, and unconventional means of surviving in London, but who also become the saviors of the day against the evil Uriah Heep; and Dora...sweet, beautiful, silly, "childbride", Dora. Though David's age, they are only about 18 when they meet and fall in love. Married when they are about 20, David has continued to grow, mature and have deep feelings about the world and issues and their future, while Dora, who grew up rather wealthy, is thrown off by the merest of household duties. She is content to just be happy with David and her dog, Jip, but doesn't really provide David an equal partner that he truly needs. After about a year of marriage, David comes to realize this, and decides to just be happy with his sweet young bride and not try to mold her into something she isn't. She is his first true love, and he doesn't really realize that he rushed into that marriage unwisely until he hears Dr. Strong's wife reassuring Dr. Strong that she loves him and not her first love of her youth. The following words stick with David for long after: "There can be no disparity in marriage like unsuitability of mind and purpose. If I were thankful to my husband for no more, instead of for so much, I should be thankful to him for having saved me from the first mistaken impulse of my undisciplined heart." David repeats the first line over and over to himself and realizes that there will always be unsuitability of mind and purpose between himself and Dora, because she will never "grow up" with him. He adores her, though, and is determined to make the best of their marriage. Sadly, Dora has a miscarriage and grows weaker and weaker afterwards until it is clear she is on her deathbed. :-(  David is devastated by Dora's death, and comforted by Agnes, who has loved him all these years, but also been a true friend to Dora, comforting her in her time of death. Aunt Betsey and Agnes both encourage David to travel abroad for awhile to overcome his grief. David, who is by this time working his way to being a pretty successful writer, travels to Switzerland, where he stays for three years, writing. He realizes in this time, what he never allowed himself to realize during his life with Dora....that he has also truly loved Agnes all his life! At the old and ripe age of about 25, lol, David travels back home, and it takes him awhile to admit his feelings for Agnes, since he's the only person in all their circle of family and friends who has never realized that Agnes has loved him forever. When they do both finally make their admissions, they are married, surrounded by loved ones, and are shown ten years later, happily, in their little home, surrounded by a passel of children. :-) Oh, and Uriah Heep has been locked in prison for the rest of his life! Getting into the why's of that, is a whole other story. I only wished that the book had wrapped up with Murdstone in prison somewhere as well...but that would be my only disappointment in the book! A wonderful, deep, story full of all the highs and lows of life, and full of all manner of characters, and most importantly, full of David Copperfield, who indeed, did become the hero of his own life, with a little help from others along the way. :-)