Erin's Book #19: The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

Before this blog, I knew nothing of this book. I had heard the name Barbara Kingsolver, but only in association with Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I had no idea she wrote fiction until reading Pam's and then Blythe's posts about The Lacuna.

Seeing as how they both gushed about it, I figured I probably should add it to my list. I'm so glad I did.

Since they've both wrote extensively about it, I'll be brief. The Lacuna follows Harrison Shepherd, a young boy growing up in Mexico with his man/money-chasing mother who ends up working many years for Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, as well as Lev Trotsky, before finally setting in North Carolina where he becomes a successful writer.

Some books you read and think it's a nice story or it's well written. And then other books you know you're in the presence of a WRITER. Barbara Kingsolver is such a person. I was perpetually in awe of her craftsmanship, her characters, her storytelling, her language... It's a beautiful book.

I'm partial to fictional stories that involve real characters, so the Kahlo/Rivera/Trotsky storyline was a treat. It's a beautiful character study as well, told through Harrison's journals and letters. We see him grow up and assume his place in the world, instead of being an observer in it.

Much of the book is about the Red Scare, a topic which is always of interest to me. Harrison is a completely innocent victim of it and it's tragic to see the country he loves build him up and make him famous, only to then take everything away from him. Both Pam and Blythe have already commented on Kingsolver's attack on the media - the point being that they want to sell newspapers, not report the news. We'd like to hope we've changed since those days, but of course not everything we read is true. One of the most telling scenes is one where an outlandish lie is reported about Harrison and he and his stenographer wait for the inevitable phone calls from the rest of the media to check the fact. Only the calls never come. Not a single one.

A beautiful book about a man coming into his own, his adoptive "family" and country, and the country that turned its back on him out of ignorant fear (as one character says, "Anti-communism has nothing to do with communism"). Consider me a Kingsolver devotee.