The Lacuna (review)

Barbara Kingsolver’s The Lacuna, her first novel in nine years, ambitiously covers a broad range of locations and time periods. The story begins in Isla Pixol, Mexico, in 1929 and ends in North Carolina during the 1950s. As readers of Kingsolver know, she emerged as a western writer in the 1990s with The Bean Trees (1988), Animal Dreams (1990), and Pigs in Heaven (1993)—all novels set in the desert Southwest. The depth of research and the creation of historical figures as vibrant characters will make Kingsolver fans excited to enter the new territory captured in The Lacuna.

Readers meet the novel’s principal character, Harrison Shepherd, as a boy in Isla Pixol, where he searches for escape in literature: “He could reach in and touch the book’s spines, exactly as Count Dantès in The Count of Monte Cristo had reached through the bars to touch his bride’s face, when she came to see him in prison” (16). His life takes a crucial turn when Harrison encounters the legendary muralist Diego Rivera and starts to mix plaster and paint for his murals. The novel then follows Harrison as he becomes a part of Rivera’s world. He cooks for Leon Trotsky when the communist leader is living in Rivera’s house during his exile in Mexico and begins to write his own stories based on the history of Mexico, starting with the violence of Hernán Cortés. After Trotsky meets his end, Harrison is charged with transporting some of Frida Kahlo’s paintings to the United States. Once in the United States, he makes his home in North Carolina, where he finishes writing his novel and becomes embroiled in the communist witch hunt led by Senator McCarthy. Kingsolver does not hesitate to tackle a variety of complex historical issues.

The novel succeeds in part due to Kingsolver’s use of personal notebooks, actual newspaper articles from the time period, fictional book reviews, and Harrison’s letters to Kahlo. Kingsolver’s inclusion of book reviews evaluating Harrison’s books Vassals of Majesty and Pilgrims of Chaltepec offer a wry commentary on the publishing industry. Her skill as a writer is also seen in her ability to write about Harrison’s homosexuality in a style that eschews exaggeration and common stereotypes.

Perhaps Kingsolver’s greatest feat is her ability to make Trotsky, Kahlo, and Rivera fully developed characters with doubts, fears, and moments of happiness. The Lacuna is a nuanced and multi-layered contribution to the field of western literature.