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International IMPAC Dublin Literary Awards Best Novel (nominee)
Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction Best Book
PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction Best Book (nominee)
Women's Prize For Fiction Best Novel
In her most accomplished novel, Barbara Kingsolver takes us on an epic journey from the Mexico City of artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo to the America of Pearl Harbor, FDR, and J. Edgar Hoover. The Lacuna is a poignant story of a man pulled between two nations as they invent their modern identities.
Born in the United States, reared in a series of provisional households in Mexico - from a coastal island jungle to 1930s Mexico City - Harrison Shepherd finds precarious shelter but no sense of home on his thrilling odyssey. Life is whatever he learns from housekeepers who put him to work in the kitchen, errands he runs in the streets, and one fateful day, by mixing plaster for famed Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. He discovers a passion for Aztec history and meets the exotic, imperious artist Frida Kahlo, who will become his lifelong friend. When he goes to work for Lev Trotsky, an exiled political leader fighting for his life, Shepherd inadvertently casts his lot with art and revolution, newspaper headlines and howling gossip, and a risk of terrible violence.
Meanwhile, to the north, the United States will soon be caught up in the internationalist goodwill of World War II. There in the land of his birth, Shepherd believes he might remake himself in America's hopeful image and claim a voice of his own. He finds support from an unlikely kindred soul, his stenographer, Mrs. Brown, who will be far more valuable to her employer than he could ever know. Through darkening years, political winds continue to toss him between north and south in a plot that turns many times on the unspeakable breach - the lacuna - between truth and public presumption.
With deeply compelling characters, a vivid sense of place, and a clear grasp of how history and public opinion can shape a life, Barbara Kingsolver has created an unforgettable portrait of the artist - and of art itself. The Lacuna is a rich and daring work of literature, establishing its author as one of the most provocative and important of her time.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Born in the United States, reared in a series of provisional households in Mexico - from a coastal island jungle to 1930s Mexico City - Harrison Shepherd finds precarious shelter but no sense of home on his thrilling odyssey. Life is whatever he learns from housekeepers who put him to work in the kitchen, errands he runs in the streets, and one fateful day, by mixing plaster for famed Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. He discovers a passion for Aztec history and meets the exotic, imperious artist Frida Kahlo, who will become his lifelong friend. When he goes to work for Lev Trotsky, an exiled political leader fighting for his life, Shepherd inadvertently casts his lot with art and revolution, newspaper headlines and howling gossip, and a risk of terrible violence.
Meanwhile, to the north, the United States will soon be caught up in the internationalist goodwill of World War II. There in the land of his birth, Shepherd believes he might remake himself in America's hopeful image and claim a voice of his own. He finds support from an unlikely kindred soul, his stenographer, Mrs. Brown, who will be far more valuable to her employer than he could ever know. Through darkening years, political winds continue to toss him between north and south in a plot that turns many times on the unspeakable breach - the lacuna - between truth and public presumption.
With deeply compelling characters, a vivid sense of place, and a clear grasp of how history and public opinion can shape a life, Barbara Kingsolver has created an unforgettable portrait of the artist - and of art itself. The Lacuna is a rich and daring work of literature, establishing its author as one of the most provocative and important of her time.
Genre: Literary Fiction
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Used availability for Barbara Kingsolver's The Lacuna
Hardback Editions
January 2013 : Hardback

Title: [(The Lacuna)] [By (author) Barbara Kingsolver] published on (January, 2013)
Author(s): Barbara Kingsolver
Publisher: HARPER PERENNIAL
Availability: Amazon UK
November 2009 : Hardback

Title: [(The Lacuna)] [Author: Barbara Kingsolver] published on (November, 2009)
Author(s): Barbara Kingsolver
Publisher: FABER & FABER
Availability: Amazon UK
November 2009 : UK Hardback
November 2009 : USA Hardback
October 2009 : Canada Hardback

Title: The Lacuna
Author(s): Barbara Kingsolver
ISBN: 1-55468-475-7 / 978-1-55468-475-5 (Canada edition)
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Availability: Amazon CA
Paperback Editions
April 2013 : UK Paperback
April 2013 : USA Paperback
January 2009 : UK Paperback
August 2010 : Paperback
July 2010 : Canada Paperback
July 2010 : USA Paperback
April 2010 : UK Paperback
November 2009 : UK Paperback

Title: The Lacuna
Author(s): Barbara Kingsolver
ISBN: 0-571-25264-8 / 978-0-571-25264-0 (UK edition)
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Availability: Amazon UK
January 2009 : USA Paperback
November 2009 : USA Paperback
Audio Editions
July 2010 : USA Audio edition
July 2010 : Australia Audio edition
July 2010 : UK Audio edition
April 2010 : UK Audio CD

Title: The Lacuna (Unabridged Audiobook)
Author(s): Barbara Kingsolver, narrated by the author
ISBN: 1-4074-5884-1 / 978-1-4074-5884-7 (UK edition)
Publisher: Whole Story Audio Books
Availability: Amazon UK
November 2009 : USA Audio CD
November 2009 : USA Audio edition
November 2009 : Canada Audio edition
2009 : USA Audio CD

Title: The Lacuna
Author(s): Barbara Kingsolver
ISBN: 1-4407-5854-9 / 978-1-4407-5854-6 (USA edition)
Publisher: Recorded Books, LLC
Availability: Amazon
Kindle Editions
October 2009 : Australia, UK Kindle edition
October 2009 : USA, Canada Kindle edition