Audio only
Length19h 15m
About this audiobook
New York Times Bestseller • A Best Book of the Year: New York Times, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Times, and Kansas City Star • Winner of the Orange Prize
“Breathtaking. . . dazzling.” — New York Times Book Review
“Epic and deeply personal. . . . This is thought-provoking, and potentially thought-changing, historical fiction at its best.” — Dallas Morning News
In this powerfully imagined, provocative novel, Barbara Kingsolver, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and recipient of the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguish Contribution to American Letters, takes us on an epic journey from the Mexico of artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo to the America of Pearl Harbor, FDR, and J. Edgar Hoover. The Lacuna is the poignant story of a man pulled between two nations as well as an unforgettable portrait of the artist—and of art itself.
Born in the United States, raised in Mexico, Harrison Shepherd lacks a sense of home in either. Life is whatever he learns from housekeepers who put him to work in the kitchen; from 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 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. 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, Kingsolver has created a rich and daring work of literature, establishing its author as one of the most provocative and important of her time.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.0 (81.6K)
Includes Goodreads, Amazon, LibraryThing
GenreGeneral Fiction, Literary Classics
Length19 hrs 15 mins
Narrated byBarbara Kingsolver
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateNov 3, 2009
LanguageEnglish
More from Barbara Kingsolver
PartitaBarbara Kingsolver14h 23m4.3 (354)$33 · $0.00
UnshelteredBarbara Kingsolver16h 38m3.8 (101.6K)$40 · $0.00
How to Fly (In Ten Thousand Easy Lessons)Barbara Kingsolver2h 14m4.1 (350)$16 · $0.00
Demon CopperheadBarbara Kingsolver21h 3m4.5 (949.4K)$46 · $0.00
Animal DreamsBarbara Kingsolver11h 50m4.2 (98.9K)$29 · $0.00
Pigs in HeavenBarbara Kingsolver13h 24m4.1 (81.4K)$33 · $0.00
Flight BehaviorBarbara Kingsolver16h 56m4.0 (142.7K)$40 · $0.00
Homeland and Other StoriesBarbara Kingsolver3h4.0 (11K)$18 · $0.00
Prodigal SummerBarbara Kingsolver15h 46m4.2 (153K)$33 · $0.00
Small WonderBarbara Kingsolver10h 2m4.2 (21.1K)$29 · $0.00
High Tide in TucsonBarbara Kingsolver2h 48m4.2 (14.1K)$18 · $0.00
Pigs in HeavenBarbara Kingsolver2h 51m4.1 (84.9K)$18 · $0.00
The Bean TreesBarbara Kingsolver9h 21m4.1 (224.6K)$29 · $0.00
Animal, Vegetable, MiracleBarbara Kingsolver, Camille Kingsolver, Steven L. Hopp14h 36m4.2 (136.3K)$33 · $0.00
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.6 (4.6K)$29 · $0.00
Demon CopperheadBarbara Kingsolver21h 3m4.5 (949.4K)$46 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
Remarkably Bright CreaturesShelby Van Pelt11h 17m4.4 (1.7M)$29 · $0.00
Cast in BloodMichelle Sagara16h 35m4.6 (607)$33 · $0.00
The Captain Blood Trilogy (Annotated)Rafael Sabatini29h 20m4.6 (1K)$3 · $0.00
Ship of the Line (Annotated)Cecil Louis Troughton Smith11h 13m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
The George Orwell CollectionGeorge Orwell24h 46m4.5 (14.4K)$12 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust15h 38m4.5 (9.2K)$2 · $0.00
Driving ForceElle James4h 58m4.6 (407)$20 · $0.00
When God Calls the HeartBrian Bird, Michelle Cox3h 24m4.6 (439)$10 · $0.00
Five Little IndiansMichelle Good10h 34m4.5 (64.5K)$29 · $0.00
Lolth's WarriorR. A. Salvatore13h 20m4.6 (2.4K)$33 · $0.00
The Things We Cannot SayKelly Rimmer13h 48m4.5 (359.1K)$33 · $0.00
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du BoisHonoree Fanonne Jeffers29h 49m4.5 (58K)$8 · $0.00
Going PostalTerry Pratchett11h 23m4.5 (189.9K)$29 · $0.00
Glen AffricKarine Giebel22h 51m4.5 (3.2K)$46 · $0.00
The Book Of NegroesLawrence Hill15h 45m4.5 (107.3K)$33 · $0.00
Anne of Green GablesL. M. Montgomery11h 1m4.5 (1.2M)$2.30 · $0.00
Lieutenant Hornblower (Annotated)C. S. Forester11h 41m4.5 (2.9K)$2 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
These Precious DaysAnn Patchett11h 14m4.5 (45.2K)$29 · $0.00
Henry V (The Play, Historical Background and Analysis of the Character in the Play)William Shakespeare, William Hazlitt8h 50m4.6 (1.3K)$1.99 · $0.00
H. P. LOVECRAFT Ultimate Collection: Novellas, Short Stories, Poetry & Essays (Annotated)H. P. Lovecraft12h 28m4.6 (2.3K)$2 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust16h 8m4.5 (10.6K)$1.99 · $0.00
The Mis-Education of the NegroCarter Goodwin Woodson4h 32m4.5 (28.4K)$10 · $0.00
Lessons in TruthH. Emilie3h 50m4.6 (1.4K)$4.70 · $0.00
TORAH - Bilingual Edition: English/Hebrew (Annotated)Max Margolis, JPS28h 26m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
Betty Crocker picture cooky bookBetty Crocker, Inc. General Mills2h 13m4.5 (6.5K)$1 · $0.00
The Complete Tales of Beatrix PotterBeatrix Potter3h 36m4.5 (75K)$3 · $0.00
Anne of Green GablesL. M. Montgomery11h 1m4.5 (1.2M)$2.30 · $0.00
Crime and Punishment (The Unabridged Garnett Translation) (Annotated)Fyodor Dostoevsky24h 25m4.5 (15.4K)$1.99 · $0.00
The North American IndianEdward S. Curtis, Frederick Webb Hodge6h4.5 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Picture of Dorian Gray: The Uncensored 13 Chapter Version + The Revised 20 Chapter Version (Annotated)Oscar Wilde16h 12m4.5 (2.8K)$1.99 · $0.00
Grimoire Of The Everyday WitchIsadora Lys / Virginia Santos5h 35m4.5 (3.9K)$9 · $0.00
Winnie-the-PoohAlan Alexander Milne2h 52m4.5 (401.1K)$3 · $0.00
Sitting PrettyRebekah Taussig7h 33m4.5 (18.9K)$26 · $0.00
The Poetic Edda & The Prose EddaSnorri Sturluson, Saemund Sigfusson9h 34m4.5 (4K)$1 · $0.00
The Complete Satires & Essays of Mark Twain (Annotated)Mark Twain23h 21m4.5 (1.1K)$2 · $0.00
Anne of Green GablesLucy Maud Montgomery11h 10m4.4 (1.3M)$8 · $0.00
You may also like
WHAT MAISIE KNEWHenry James11h 50m3.7 (33.8K)$1.99 · $0.00
Doctor CopernicusJohn Banville10h 45m3.7 (1.6K)$29 · $0.00
The Analects of ConfuiusConfucius3h 4m4.0 (50.2K)$2.30
The Education of Henry Adams (Annotated)Henry Adams21h 22m4.1 (16.9K)$2 · $0.00
The Home and the WorldRabindranath Tagore7h 19m4.0 (8.6K)$2.30
A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN (Awakening of Stephen Dedalus) (Annotated)James Joyce11h 13m3.8 (197.1K)$1.99 · $0.00
Loss and Gain (Annotated)John Henry Newman13h 29m4.2 (370)$3 · $0.00
The Beautiful FallAlicia Drake16h 18m4.1 (3K)$23
UnassimilableBianca Mabute-Louie6h 33m4.1 (413)$24 · $0.00
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young ManJames Joyce9h 24m3.9 (258.2K)$1.80 · $0.00
Out of the DarknessIan O'Connor13h 4m4.0 (1.7K)$33 · $0.00
HomesickJean Fritz4h 29m4.0 (3.9K)$20
A portrait of the artist as a young manJames Joyce9h 22m3.8 (178.9K)$4 · $0.00
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young ManJames Joyce9h 16m3.8 (193.5K)$20
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young ManJames Joyce9h 22m3.8 (194K)$1.20 · $0.00
My Grandfather's SonClarence Thomas11h 54m4.3 (9.4K)$29 · $0.00
Welcome to BraggsvilleT. Geronimo Johnson12h 13m3.4 (4.8K)$29 · $0.00
George OrwellSantiago Machain6h 14m$19 · $0.00
The Emperor of ShoesSpencer Wise10h 17m3.5 (756)$29 · $0.00
Harvard Classics: The Shelf of Fiction - Complete Edition: Vol.1-20 (Annotated)Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Theodor Storm, Charles Dickens, Theodor Fontane, Gottfried Keller, Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, Henry James, Victor Hugo, Jane Austen, Alphonse Daudet, Guy de Maupassant, George Eliot, Walter Scott, Laurence Sterne, Henry Fielding, George Sand, Washington Irving, Juan Valera, Alfred de Musset, Nathaniel Hawthorne, William Makepeace Thackeray, Edward Everett Hale, Francis Bret Harte, Ivan Turgenev, Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Honoré Balzac, Alexander L. Kielland387h 13m4.4 (105)$2 · $0.00