The Lacuna

“The novel achieves a rare dramatic power…Kingsolver masterfully resurrects a dark period in American history with the assured hand of a true literary artist.” - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

”[Kingsolver] hasn’t lost her touch…she delivers her signature blend of exotic locale, political backdrop and immediately engaging story line…teems with dark beauty.” - People

“A crackerjack storyteller… . Kingsolver has a way with miracles. One is the way she opens her plot to them. The other is the way she makes us believe.” - Newsweek

”…True and riveting…Barbara Kingsolver has invented a wondrous filling here, sweeter and thicker than pan dulce, spicy as the hottest Mexican chiles, paranoid as the American government hunting Communists “ - Philadelphia Inquirer

“Shepherd’s story in Kingsolver’s accomplished literary hands is so seductive, the prose so elegant, the architecture of the novel so imaginative, it becomes hard to peel away from the book” - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“Kingsolver is a writer of rare ambition and unequivocal talent.” - Chicago Tribune

“There is no one quite like Barbara Kingsolver in contemporary literature… . Her descriptions have a magical lyricism rooted in daily life but also on familiar terms with the eternal.” - Washington Post Book World

“Compelling…Kingsolver’s descriptions of life in Mexico City burst with sensory detail–thick sweet breads, vividly painted walls, the lovely white feet of an unattainable love.” - The New Yorker

“Kingsolver deftly combines real history and the life of the fictional protagonist…A sweeping tale.” - Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Rich…impassioned…engrossing…Politics and art dominate the novel, and their overt, unapologetic connection is refreshing.” - Chicago Tribune

“Masterful…a reader receives the great gift of entering not one but several worlds…The final pages haunt me still.” - San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

“A sweeping narrative of utopian dreams and political reality…A stirring novel…intimate and pitch-perfect.” - San Diego Union-Tribune

“A sweeping mural of sensory delights and stimulating ideas about art, government, identity and history…Readers will feel the sting of connection between then and now.” - Seattle Times

“The most mature and ambitious [novel] she’s written…An absorbing portrayal of American life…A rich novel [with] a large, colorful canvas…A tender story about a thoughtful man.” - Washington Post

“Her best novel yet…both epic and deeply personal…I can’t think of another book published this fall that is more worth your time. This is thought-provoking, and potentially thought-changing, historical fiction at its best.” - Dallas Morning News

“A work that is often close to magic…. Much research underlies this complex weaving…but the work is lofted by lyric prose.” - Denver Post

“Sprawling, ambitious…[Kingsolver] gives a bristling, colorful glimpse of American life as the country dealt with the Great Depression, World War II and communist witch hunts…a book blazing with color.” - USA Today

“A lavishly gifted writer… Kingsolver [has a] wonderful ear for the quirks of human repartee. The Lacuna is richly spiked with period language… This book grabs at the heartstrings…” - Los Angeles Times

“Breathtaking…dazzling…The Lacuna can be enjoyed sheerly for the music of its passages on nature, archaeology, food and friendship; or for its portraits of real and invented people; or for its harmonious choir of voices. But the fuller value of Kingsolver’s novel lies in its call to conscience and connection. She has mined Shepherd’s richly imagined history to create a tableau vivant of epochs and people that time has transformed almost past recognition. Yet it’s a tableau vivant whose story line resonates in the present day… Kingsolver gives voice to truths whose teller could express them only in silence.” - New York Times Book Review

“Breathtaking…dazzling…The Lacuna can be enjoyed sheerly for the music of its passages on nature, archaeology, food and friendship; or for its portraits of real and invented people…But the fuller value…lies in its call to conscience and connection.” - New York Times Book Review

”[Kingsolver’s] playful pastiche brings to vivid life the culture wars of an earlier era…” - Vogue

”[Kingsolver] stirs the real with the imagined to produce a breathtakingly ambitious book, bold and rich…hopeful, political and artistic. The Lacuna fills a lacuna with powerfully imagined social history - Kansas City Star

Barbara Kingsolver is the author of ten bestselling works of fiction, including the novels Unsheltered, The Bean Trees, and The Poisonwood Bible, as well as books of poetry, essays, creative nonfiction, and Coyote’s Wild Home, a children’s book co-authored with Lily Kingsolver. She also collaborated with family members on the influential Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. Kingsolver’s work has been translated into more than thirty languages and has earned a devoted readership at home and abroad. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and has received numerous awards and honors including the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel, Demon Copperhead, the National Humanities Medal, and most recently, the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. She lives with her husband on a farm in southern Appalachia.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.