Kingsolver still schmaltzing all the way to the bank

FICTION: Unsheltered, By Barbara Kingsolver, Faber & Faber, €17.95

In the opening pages of Barbara Kingsolver’s new novel, Willa, the spunky-but-sensitive protagonist, engages in a conveniently expository chat with her local handyman. “We didn’t buy it!” she says. “We inherited . . . We’ve got my husband’s disabled father with us right now. And our daughter . . . my son’s child, just born . . . my aunt died . . . ...