LONDON (AP) 鈥 American novelist Barbara Kingsolver won the prestigious Women鈥檚 Prize for Fiction Wednesday with 鈥淒emon Copperhead,鈥 the Dickens-inspired tale of a boy's struggle against the odds in a corner of America scarred by opioid addiction.
Kingsolver's Appalachian coming-of-age tale was announced as winner of the 30,000 pounds ($38,000) award at a ceremony in London.
Kingsolver, 68, also won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for the novel, which transplants Charles Dickens鈥 鈥淒avid Copperfield鈥 to modern-day southwest Virginia, where the author lives.
It was a second victory for Kingsolver, who previously won the Women鈥檚 Prize in 2010 for 鈥淭he Lacuna.鈥
鈥淟ightning strikes twice,鈥 she said as she accepted the award.
Kingsolver said she wrote the book to tell stories from a part of the United States 鈥 the mountainous Appalachia region 鈥 that is often overlooked or regarded as 鈥渏ust a joke.鈥
鈥淲e're the last demographic in the U.S. that progressive people are allowed to laugh at," Kingsolver told The Associated Press. "And we're mad about it.鈥
Kingsolver has long woven social issues into her novels, which include 鈥淭he Bean Trees鈥 and 鈥淭he Poisonwood Bible,鈥 and helped establish the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction. Oprah Winfrey chose 鈥淒emon Copperhead鈥 for her book club last year.
Journalist Louise Minchin, who chaired the Women鈥檚 Prize judging panel, said the winning novel was 鈥渁 towering, deeply powerful and significant book.鈥
鈥溾橠emon Copperhead鈥 tackles universal themes 鈥 from addiction and poverty, to family, love, and the power of friendship and art,鈥 Minchin said. 鈥淚t packs a triumphant emotional punch, and it is a novel that will withstand the test of time.鈥
Kingsolver said the book came from a desire 鈥渢o tell the story of this place where I live and what has been done to it."
鈥淎ppalachia has been so particularly exploited, almost treated as an internal colony,鈥 she said, calling the opioid epidemic 鈥渙ne more turn in this exploitation trade.鈥
鈥淚t鈥檚 a hard story to tell. And I really spent years thinking that it was totally impossible. And then it dawned on me that that鈥檚 just what Charles Dickens did. Why not tell his story, in my voice, in my place?"
Kingsolver said she didn't think the great novelist, who chronicled the extremes of poverty and wealth in Victorian Britain, would mind her borrowing his plot.
鈥淚 love his anger, and I felt him saying, 鈥楧o this,'" she said.
Kingsolver beat five other Women鈥檚 Prize finalists, including Maggie O鈥橣arrell鈥檚 Italian Renaissance tale 鈥淭he Marriage Portrait鈥 and Laline Paull鈥檚 dolphin drama 鈥淧od.鈥
Founded in 1996, the prize is open to female English-language writers from any country. Previous winners include Zadie Smith, Tayari Jones and Susanna Clarke. Last year鈥檚 prize went to 春色直播-American novelist
