corner corner The Lacuna: A Novel
corner corner

Books Registered open extended profile

Medium
  by Barbara Kingsolver

category Literature & Fiction
EAN: 9780060852573
Books Registered: 8
BookCrossing Rating: This book has not been rated.
Books in the Wild: 2
Wishes for this book: click here




Amazon Editorial Review

In her most accomplished novel, Barbara Kingsolver takes us on an epic journey from the Mexico City of artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo to the America of Pearl Harbor, FDR, and J. Edgar Hoover. The Lacuna is a poignant story of a man pulled between two nations as they invent their modern identities.

Born in the United States, reared in a series of provisional households in Mexico—from a coastal island jungle to 1930s Mexico City—Harrison Shepherd finds precarious shelter but no sense of home on his thrilling odyssey. Life is whatever he learns from housekeepers who put him to work in the kitchen, 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 meets 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. He finds support from an unlikely kindred soul, his stenographer, Mrs. Brown, who will be far more valuable to her employer than he could ever know. 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, Barbara Kingsolver has created an unforgettable portrait of the artist—and of art itself. The Lacuna is a rich and daring work of literature, establishing its author as one of the most provocative and important of her time.


Other books you might like:

8 Copies Registered


Registered by tonyainflight of Escondido, California USA on Saturday, February 27, 2010

Current status: travelling Average 10 star rating by BookCrossing Members


Registered by ArvadaLibrary of Arvada, Colorado USA on Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Current status: travelling This book has not been rated.


Registered by spoiledrotten of Waldwick, New Jersey USA on Saturday, June 25, 2011

Current status: available Average 2 star rating by BookCrossing Members


Registered by wingpiggydivawing of Louisville, Kentucky USA on Saturday, December 12, 2009

Current status: permanent collection This book has not been rated.


Registered by jsara of Stratham, New Hampshire USA on Sunday, March 14, 2010

Current status: permanent collection Average 9 star rating by BookCrossing Members


Registered by islandmomma of El Médano, Santa Cruz de Tenerife Spain on Friday, May 14, 2010

Current status: permanent collection This book has not been rated.


Registered by msjoanna of Columbia, Missouri USA on Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Current status: to be read This book has not been rated.


Registered by castanet3663 of Arvada, Colorado USA on Sunday, July 10, 2011

Current status: to be read This book has not been rated.




Are you sure you want to delete this item? It cannot be undone.