THE LACUNA BY BARBARA KINGSOLVER, FABER & FABER, $23.99.
A lacuna is a blank space, like the missing part of a jigsaw, and a title well-chosen for this fascinating novel and winner of the 2010 Orange Prize. It tells the story of dreamy young Harrison – son of a flamboyant Mexican mother and largely absent American father – who finds himself caught up in some of the major upheavals of the mid-20th century.
As baker and plaster-mixer for artist Diego Rivera and his wife, Frida Kahlo, he is witness to the assassination of exiled Bolshevik Leon Trotsky. Later, the increasingly mysterious Harrison becomes embroiled in the anti-communist scare led by US Senator Joseph McCarthy. Ambitious and thought-provoking, The Lacuna is written with lush elegance.
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