Listen and read

Step into an infinite world of stories

  • Read and listen as much as you want
  • Over 950 000 titles
  • Exclusive titles + Storytel Originals
  • Easy to cancel anytime
Try now
image.devices-Singapore 2x
35 Ratings

4.2

Duration
19H 15min
Language
English
Format
Category

Fiction

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.

© 2009 HarperAudio (Audiobook): 9780061967139

Release date

Audiobook: 3 November 2009

Others also enjoyed ...

  1. Animal Dreams: A Novel Barbara Kingsolver
  2. The Bean Trees Barbara Kingsolver
  3. Sorrow and Bliss: A Novel Meg Mason
  4. The Song of Achilles: A Novel Madeline Miller
  5. Bel Canto Ann Patchett
  6. Unsheltered: A Novel Barbara Kingsolver
  7. Nothing to See Here Kevin Wilson
  8. Still Life Sarah Winman
  9. State of Wonder: A Novel Ann Patchett
  10. The Binding: A Novel Bridget Collins
  11. James: Winner of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Percival Everett
  12. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Betty Smith
  13. The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock: A Novel Imogen Hermes Gowar
  14. Trust: the dazzling twisty story of power, greed and love that begins in 1920s New York Hernan Diaz
  15. The Night Watchman Louise Erdrich
  16. The Alice Network: A Novel Kate Quinn
  17. A Woman Is No Man: A Novel Etaf Rum
  18. Half of a Yellow Sun Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  19. She Who Became the Sun Shelley Parker-Chan
  20. Shuggie Bain: Winner of the Booker Prize 2020 Douglas Stuart
  21. The Mercies Kiran Millwood Hargrave
  22. Crossroads Jonathan Franzen
  23. My Dark Vanessa: A Novel Kate Elizabeth Russell
  24. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle Barbara Kingsolver
  25. The Pull of the Stars Emma Donoghue
  26. How to Kill Your Family Bella Mackie
  27. A Marvellous Light: A dazzling, queer romantic fantasy Freya Marske
  28. Small Pleasures: A Novel Clare Chambers
  29. The Essex Serpent: A Novel Sarah Perry
  30. The Keeper of Lost Things: A Novel Ruth Hogan
  31. Pachinko Min Jin Lee
  32. How High We Go in the Dark Sequoia Nagamatsu
  33. Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel Anthony Doerr
  34. Lost Children Archive Valeria Luiselli
  35. The Four Winds: From the multimillion copy bestselling author of The Women and The Nightingale Kristin Hannah
  36. The Underground Railroad: LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2017 Colson Whitehead
  37. The House in the Cerulean Sea: An Uplifting, Heartwarming Cosy Fantasy About Found Family TJ Klune
  38. A Thousand Ships: Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction Natalie Haynes
  39. The Nightingale: The Multimillion Copy Bestseller from the Author of The Women Kristin Hannah
  40. An American Marriage: A Novel Tayari Jones
  41. Stone Blind: the breathtaking Sunday Times bestseller Natalie Haynes
  42. Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston
  43. The Maid Nita Prose

Features:

  • Over 950 000 titles

  • Kids Mode (child safe environment)

  • Download books for offline access

  • Cancel anytime

Most popular

Unlimited

For those who want to listen and read without limits.

S$12.98 /month
3 days for free
  • 1 account

  • Unlimited Access

  • Unlimited listening

  • Cancel anytime

Try now

Unlimited Bi-yearly

For those who want to listen and read without limits.

S$69 /6 months
14 days for free
Save 11%
  • 1 account

  • Unlimited Access

  • Unlimited listening

  • Cancel anytime

Try now

Unlimited Yearly

For those who want to listen and read without limits.

S$119 /year
14 days for free
Save 24%
  • 1 account

  • Unlimited Access

  • Unlimited listening

  • Cancel anytime

Try now

Family

For those who want to share stories with family and friends.

From S$14.90/month
  • 2-3 accounts

  • Unlimited Access

  • Unlimited listening

  • Cancel anytime

2 accounts

S$14.90 /month
Try now