Kingsolver wrote The Bean Trees in shifting points of view. All but two chapters of the novel are written in the first person, revealing the thoughts and feelings of the feisty protagonist, Taylor Greer. Kingsolver wrote Chapters 2 and 4 in limited third person (we see the character through the author's eyes rather than through the character's), presenting information as seen and understood by Lou Ann Ruiz, a significant character in the novel. The relationship that develops between Taylor and Lou Ann becomes a focus of the novel.
The Bean Trees begins when Taylor (whose real name is Marietta) decides that it's time to leave Pittman, Kentucky, where she lives with her mother, and make something of herself. She buys a 1955 Volkswagen and embarks on a personal journey of self-discovery, leaving everything behind, including her name. When her car runs out of gas in Taylorville, Illinois, she decides that her new name will be Taylor. From that point on, she is known as Taylor Greer.
In the middle of Oklahoma, on land owned by the Cherokee Nation, Taylor's car breaks down. Taylor stops to have it repaired and to get something to eat at a restaurant. Her life changes dramatically when, sitting in her car and ready to leave the restaurant and continue driving, a Cherokee woman puts a child wrapped in a blanket on the front seat of Taylor's car. The woman asks Taylor to take the child and then disappears in a pickup truck. Taylor suspects that the child, who doesn't speak, has been physically and sexually abused. Because the child holds onto Taylor's clothing with a fiercely determined grip that reminds Taylor of a mud turtle that won't let go of what it has in its mouth, Taylor names the child Turtle. Kingsolver introduces the perils of single motherhood as Taylor accepts her newfound responsibilities and makes a commitment — although Taylor is not fully aware that she has made such a commitment — to care for another human being.
