The Lacuna

De: Barbara Kingsolver

Narrado por: Barbara Kingsolver

From the Mexico City of Frida Kahlo to the America of J. Edgar Hoover, The Lacuna tells the poignant story of a man pulled between two nations.

Born in the United States, but reared in Mexico, Harrison Shepherd finds precarious shelter but no sense of home on his thrilling odyssey. Life is whatever he learns from housekeepers and, one fateful day, by mixing plaster for famed muralist Diego Rivera. When he goes to work for Rivera, his wife, exotic artist Kahlo, and exiled leader Lev Trotsky, Shepherd inadvertently casts his lot with art and revolution.

Meanwhile, the United States has embraced the internationalist goodwill of World War II. Back in the land of his birth, Shepherd seeks to remake himself in America's hopeful image and claim a voice of his own. But 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.

©2009 Barbara Kingsolver (P)2009 HarperCollins Publishers

Great title

It didn’t change my world, but it came together nicely. The heartbreak of a martyr was endearing, and the errors of a generation gut-wrenching. The protagonist, I will remember.

Such beauty

Love that Barbara Kingsolver narrates so many of her books. It really adds something so beautiful. This is a deeply moving, soulful book and I never wanted it to end.

A forgotten history

Wonderful story weaving fiction and history. A time that many of us would do well to study and remember

Disappointing

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

No. It could have been a great read but the voice of the narrator is most irritating.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator is awful. She doesn't read well, her intonations are off, and her voice is like a school teacher's talking to a 4 year old.

Any additional comments?

I wish I had bought the book rather the narration.

Need a different narrator

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I always love Barbara Kingsolver stories but I don't like the way she reads. She sounds like she's reading to an elementary age child. Very hard to listen to her reading her own story.

Would you be willing to try another one of Barbara Kingsolver’s performances?

No.

What a superb novel

In haste... I can't think when I was so swept away by a novel. A glorious play on the idea of narrative--history, fiction, the fictionality of history, the truths that the very best and most imaginative fiction can convey. I was hooked from the beginning, swept along by the story, but the prose is sos fine that I kept skipping back to replay a paragraph here, a paragraph there. I loved the characterisation of Kahlo and Trotsky, and of the protagonist. I tried to read The Poisonwood Bible years ago and I'm not sure I finished it, but The Lacuna is a masterpiece.

And what made it perfect for me was Kingsolver's reading. Not often a writer is also so fine a performer.

Tip top!

A terrific audiobook of a terrific novel! Great job! Barbara Kingsolver was a great narrator.

Loved this one

I've listened to many other books by Barbara Kingsolver and they are amongst my favorites. But the description of this one just didn't spark my interest. Still, so many people said they loved it, and since I love so many of her other books, I decided to give it a try. I'm so glad I did! A beautiful story, read by the author, in her lovely and careful way. Kingsolver never disappoints me.

Beautiful

Both timely and timeless. Barbara Kingsolver weaves a tale like no one else. Hearing her characters come to life at her narration - fantastic.

Kingsolver is a magician

Theres always an element of lingering sadness, yet you dont want the story to end.