Cover image of "The Lacuna,"

When years ago I read The Poisonwood Bible, I was flummoxed by its power and beauty. It was clear to me that Barbara Kingsolver possessed a fierce talent not just as a storyteller but also as a wordsmith and a reporter. Her vivid prose brought into high relief the tragic reality of life in the 1960s in what is today the Democratic Republic of Congo. Much later I read and reviewed Kingsolver’s more recent novel, Flight Behavior, a meditation on the impact of climate change that underlies a tale of life and love in the author’s homeland, Appalachia. Though less compelling than Poisonwood, Flight Behavior was brilliant in its own way. But I wasn’t prepared for her even more brilliant novel in which Leon Trotsky figures as a central character.

A challenging but ultimately rewarding historical novel

All of which is why I was so taken aback when I had difficulty getting into The Lacuna. The book is Kingsolver’s intensely political historical novel of the Mexican Revolution, the Depression in the US, and the anti-Communist frenzy following World War II. On my first try, I set the book aside, finding it confusing. Then I tried again, no doubt in a more receptive mood, and I fell in love with the work. I found I simply couldn’t resist the insight Kingsolver brings to her work. Here, for example, is a snippet of dialogue from the mouth of a minor character in the novel, commenting on the Red Scare . . .

“You force people to stop asking questions, and before you know it they have auctioned off the question mark, or sold it for scrap. No boldness. No good ideas for fixing what’s broken in the land. Because if you happen to mention it’s broken, you are automatically disqualified.”

By the way, how is that so different from the Know-Nothing attitudes holding sway today in the White House and Congress?

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver (2009) 681 pages ★★★★★

Photo of Frieda Kahlo and Diego Rivera
Frieda Kahlo and Diego Rivera. Image: biography.com – Rise Art

A window into the tumult of the 1930s

The protagonist of The Lacuna is Harrison Shepherd, a writer of best-selling historical romance novels set in the empires of the Aztecs and the Maya. Born shortly after World War I, son of a minor American federal official and a desperate Mexican woman who sees him as a mealticket, Shepherd crosses borders to become a first-hand witness to the tumult of the 1930s. The Bonus Army march and encampment in Washington under Herbert Hoover. The rise to fame of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. Stalin’s assassination of Leon Trotsky. And the slow, painful unfolding of the Red Scare that seized hold of the United States in the early years of the Cold War.

Unforgettable portraits of historic figures

The Lacuna is crammed with unforgettable portraits of historic figures. Chief among them are Diego Rivera and his on-again, off-again wife, Frida Kahlo. The painters fairly leap off the page with the passion that drove them to artistic heights. The dialogue between Kahlo and the protagonist, Harrison Shepherd, is among the most lively and engaging I’ve ever read anywhere (yes, even including Elmore Leonard). Kingsolver’s equally brilliant rendering of the artists’ houseguest, “Leon” (Lev Davidovich) Trotsky, is alone worth the price of this extraordinary book.

Better than anything else I’ve ever read, The Lacuna depicts the desperation of the Depression years, the topsy-turvy uncertainties of the Mexican Revolution, and the insanity of the anti-Communist witch-hunts of the late 1940s and 50s. That’s a lot to cram between the covers of a single novel.

About the author

Photo of Barbara KIngsolver, author of
Barbara Kingsolver in 2023. Image: Britannica

Barbara Kingsolver received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2023 for her novel, Demon Copperhead. It was only the latest of an arms-length list of awards for her writing. She has written 10 novels, three nonfiction books, two collections of essays, and two books of poetry. And she has established her own semiannual award, the Bellwether Prize, which supports writers whose works champion positive social change.

KIngsolver was born in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1955. She studied at DePauw University for a BA and the University of Arizona for her MA. She has been married twice and has two children. She now lives in Appalachia.

I’ve also reviewed three other novels by the author:

You’ll find this book on my list of The decade’s top 10 historical novels, mysteries & thrillers, and science fiction.

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