The Lacuna - by Barbara Kingsolver (Paperback)

About the Book

In her first novel in nine years, "New York Times"-bestselling author Kingsolver tells the story of Harrison William Shepherd, an unforgettable protagonist whose search for identity takes readers to the heart of the 20th century's most tumultuous events.

Book Synopsis

New York Times Bestseller - A Best Book of the Year: New York Times, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Times, and Kansas City Star - Winner of the Orange Prize

"Breathtaking. . . dazzling." -- New York Times Book Review

"Epic and deeply personal. . . . This is thought-provoking, and potentially thought-changing, historical fiction at its best." -- Dallas Morning News

In this powerfully imagined, provocative novel, Barbara Kingsolver, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and recipient of the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguish Contribution to American Letters, takes us on an epic journey from the Mexico of artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo to the America of Pearl Harbor, FDR, and J. Edgar Hoover. The Lacuna is the poignant story of a man pulled between two nations as well as an unforgettable portrait of the artist--and of art itself.

Born in the United States, raised in Mexico, Harrison Shepherd lacks a sense of home in either. Life is whatever he learns from housekeepers who put him to work in the kitchen; from errands he runs in the streets; and, one fateful day, by mixing plaster for famed Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. He discovers a passion for Aztec history and the exotic, imperious artist Frida Kahlo, who will become his lifelong friend. When he goes to work for Lev Trotsky, an exiled political leader fighting for his life, Shepherd inadvertently casts his lot with art and revolution, newspaper headlines and howling gossip, and a risk of terrible violence.

Meanwhile, to the north, the United States will soon be caught up in the internationalist goodwill of World War II. There, in the land of his birth, Shepherd believes he might remake himself in America's hopeful image and claim a voice of his own. Through darkening years, political winds continue to toss him between north and south in a plot that turns many times on the unspeakable breach--the lacuna--between truth and public presumption.

With deeply compelling characters, a vivid sense of place, and a clear grasp of how history and public opinion can shape a life, Kingsolver has created a rich and daring work of literature, establishing its author as one of the most provocative and important of her time.

From the Back Cover

In this powerfully imagined, provocative novel, Barbara Kingsolver takes us on an epic journey from the Mexico of artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo to the America of Pearl Harbor, FDR, and J. Edgar Hoover. The Lacuna is the poignant story of a man pulled between two nations as well as an unforgettable portrait of the artist--and of art itself.

Review Quotes

"The novel achieves a rare dramatic power...Kingsolver masterfully resurrects a dark period in American history with the assured hand of a true literary artist." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"[Kingsolver] hasn't lost her touch...she delivers her signature blend of exotic locale, political backdrop and immediately engaging story line...teems with dark beauty." - People
"A crackerjack storyteller. . . . Kingsolver has a way with miracles. One is the way she opens her plot to them. The other is the way she makes us believe." - Newsweek
"...True and riveting...Barbara Kingsolver has invented a wondrous filling here, sweeter and thicker than pan dulce, spicy as the hottest Mexican chiles, paranoid as the American government hunting Communists " - Philadelphia Inquirer
"Shepherd's story in Kingsolver's accomplished literary hands is so seductive, the prose so elegant, the architecture of the novel so imaginative, it becomes hard to peel away from the book" - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Kingsolver is a writer of rare ambition and unequivocal talent." - Chicago Tribune
"There is no one quite like Barbara Kingsolver in contemporary literature. . . . Her descriptions have a magical lyricism rooted in daily life but also on familiar terms with the eternal." - Washington Post Book World
"Compelling...Kingsolver's descriptions of life in Mexico City burst with sensory detail--thick sweet breads, vividly painted walls, the lovely white feet of an unattainable love." - The New Yorker
"Kingsolver deftly combines real history and the life of the fictional protagonist...A sweeping tale." - Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Rich...impassioned...engrossing...Politics and art dominate the novel, and their overt, unapologetic connection is refreshing." - Chicago Tribune
"Masterful...a reader receives the great gift of entering not one but several worlds...The final pages haunt me still." - San Francisco Chronicle Book Review
"A sweeping narrative of utopian dreams and political reality...A stirring novel...intimate and pitch-perfect." - San Diego Union-Tribune
"A sweeping mural of sensory delights and stimulating ideas about art, government, identity and history...Readers will feel the sting of connection between then and now." - Seattle Times
"The most mature and ambitious [novel] she's written...An absorbing portrayal of American life...A rich novel [with] a large, colorful canvas...A tender story about a thoughtful man." - Washington Post
"Her best novel yet...both epic and deeply personal...I can't think of another book published this fall that is more worth your time. This is thought-provoking, and potentially thought-changing, historical fiction at its best." - Dallas Morning News
"A work that is often close to magic.... Much research underlies this complex weaving...but the work is lofted by lyric prose." - Denver Post
"Sprawling, ambitious...[Kingsolver] gives a bristling, colorful glimpse of American life as the country dealt with the Great Depression, World War II and communist witch hunts...a book blazing with color." - USA Today
"A lavishly gifted writer... Kingsolver [has a] wonderful ear for the quirks of human repartee. The Lacuna is richly spiked with period language... This book grabs at the heartstrings..." - Los Angeles Times
"Breathtaking...dazzling...The Lacuna can be enjoyed sheerly for the music of its passages on nature, archaeology, food and friendship; or for its portraits of real and invented people; or for its harmonious choir of voices. But the fuller value of Kingsolver's novel lies in its call to conscience and connection. She has mined Shepherd's richly imagined history to create a tableau vivant of epochs and people that time has transformed almost past recognition. Yet it's a tableau vivant whose story line resonates in the present day... Kingsolver gives voice to truths whose teller could express them only in silence." - New York Times Book Review
"Breathtaking...dazzling...The Lacuna can be enjoyed sheerly for the music of its passages on nature, archaeology, food and friendship; or for its portraits of real and invented people...But the fuller value...lies in its call to conscience and connection." - New York Times Book Review
"[Kingsolver's] playful pastiche brings to vivid life the culture wars of an earlier era..." - Vogue
"[Kingsolver] stirs the real with the imagined to produce a breathtakingly ambitious book, bold and rich...hopeful, political and artistic. The Lacuna fills a lacuna with powerfully imagined social history - Kansas City Star