The Lacuna

Barbara Kingsolver · b. 1955 · USA

Why it matters

Harrison Shepherd, American-born but raised in 1930s Mexico, mixes plaster for Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, serves as Trotsky's secretary in exile, then becomes a suspected novelist during the McCarthy era back in the US. An epic, document-laced sweep through revolutionary Mexico and Red Scare America.

At a glance

A long historical sweep assembled from diary entries and inserted documents asks for sustained attention.