Unsheltered

Unsheltered was written by American author Barbara Kingsolver and first published in 2018. The novel explores themes of family, marriage, science in society, social justice issues, overcoming personal challenges, and new possibilities. Kingsolver is the recipient of the National Humanities Medal, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and winner of the Orange Prize, Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and PEN/Faulkner award, and she has received many other recognitions by national and international associations and publications. Unsheltered is her ninth work of fiction; she is also the author of two essay collections, two volumes of poetry, and three nonfiction books as of 2021. The edition used in this guide is the hardcover first edition published by Harper.

Plot Summary

Willa Knox is a middle-aged magazine editor whose publication recently went out of business. The university where her husband, Iano, was a tenured college professor also shuts down, forcing the couple to move from Virginia to New Jersey so he can teach at a university in Philadelphia. They move into a house Willa inherited from a recently deceased aunt in Vineland, New Jersey, about a 40-minute drive from Philadelphia. Their household also consists of Iano’s elderly disabled father, Nick, and their 26-year-old daughter, Tig, who has been living with them since returning from a stint living in Cuba.