Barbara Kingsolver
After the book was published, Kingsolver traveled back to Lee County and convened a group of friends who live in the area for a breakfast meeting. If she had $100,000 to help people in addiction recovery, she asked them, where should it go? Everyone agreed that in this county with so few resources, the greatest need was for a sober home where people in recovery could live in safety and support: with counseling, transportation, and job training. 'When people leave their addiction behind, they almost always leave behind their whole word,' Kingsolver says. 'People come out of addiction with no social capital at all, no friends, no skills, no education, no transportation or even a driver's license. Addiction strips you of all those things.'
Kingsolver found the 'perfect house,' doubled her investment, and used her royalties from Demon Copperhead to turn it into a recovery home for people battling addiction. The Higher Ground Women's Recovery Residence opened in 2025, and Kingsolver and her team are already working on expansion plans. Readers around the world have embraced the project along with the Lee County community. Fans in Switzerland raised money to order porch furniture for the house. The local community college offered free tuition for women residents to take classes, and nearby attorneys have donated their services.
'I think the happiest part of this is that it went from a wild dream or a wish in my head to an actual house—a beautiful house with a red door and a red roof and women inside who are getting their lives back,' she says. 'It's unstoppable at this point. I think it's going to grow and grow.'
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