The Lacuna
by Barbara Kingsolver

I truly love Barbara Kingsolver’s writing: I think that The Poisonwood Bible is one of my top ten books of all time. So I was prepared to thoroughly enjoy The Lacuna – and I most certainly did.

It’s told in the format of the life story of one Harrison Shepherd, who was taken from Washington and his American father, to Mexico by his mother who was a native of that country. The first two decades of Shepherd’s life are spent in Mexico – first on a coastal island and then in Mexico City at his mother’s serial (mostly married) lovers’ houses or “mistress flats”, with the exception of two years spent at an American boarding school.

In his mid-teens, he finds employment mixing plaster for one of Diego Rivera’s murals. He becomes part of Rivera’s household, and in due course, works as a translator and secretary for Lev Trotsky when Rivera and his wife, the artist Frido Kahlo, provide sanctuary for that enemy of Stalin. Eventually Trotsky and his entourage move households and Shepherd then works directly for Trotsky.

After Trotsky’s assassination, Shepherd leaves Mexico and throws his lot in with the post-war optimism in America. Since boyhood he had been fascinated with the Aztec civilization and he becomes a best-selling author of historical fiction set in that era.

During WWII, the American propaganda machine cranked out pro-Russia messages. Roosevelt gritted his teeth and shook hands with Stalin, Eisenhower accepted a medal from him. After the war, Russia was no longer an ally and so began the anti-Stalin, anti-communism campaign that engulfed a nation and set Russia up as the worst kind of enemy.

I grew up in the 50s and 60s and can testify that we were taught that “communism” was almost the equivalent of a four-letter word: something evil and wicked. The campaign was effective – and it affected Shepherd significantly. (More information than that will be a spoiler.)

Shepherd’s life story is told in various forms: a first chapter that he wrote himself when he briefly considered writing his memoirs; following chapters supplied by either various notebooks of his or are observations of his assistant, Violet Brown. It’s an interesting, if initially a little confusing, presentation. Although Trotsky’s crusade to depose Stalin might be a little tough-sledding to read, it is critical to the plot.

As always, Kingsolver’s research is impeccable. She brings to life the ancient Aztec civilization, explains the passions of Rivera and Kahlo’s Mexico, and captures the rabid patriotism that was the result of the “committee to investigate anti-American activity”.

The titular lacuna – the round hole – appears throughout the book in different guises, some that surprise.

Besides learning about all of these topics, I hope you’ll be moved to consider the destruction that xenophobia in the form of blind nationalism can wrought.

I rate The Lacuna 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Reading challenges: This book satisfies three of my reading challenges:the Bibliophilic Book Challenge, Support Your Local Library, and 100+.

Link for Canadian readers:
The Lacuna

Or, even better, buy from an independent book seller.

P.S. The links are affiliate links so I will receive a small percentage of any purchase you make after clicking through from this blog.

Technorati Tags: book review, Barbara Kingsolver, The Lacuna, Harrison Shepherd, communist threat, committee, anti-american activity, Diego Rivera, Frido Kahlo, Lev Trotsky, Leon Trotsky, Violet Brown