Lucana means a missing part or an empty space. Last night we had a lively discussion about Barbara Kingsolver's novel, Lacuna. Chrysanne chose this book perhaps to keep a bit of Mexico with her since her return from Oaxaca this Spring. There were mixed reviews with members either loving the book, liking parts of it, with others not able to continue reading. Ed had an interesting comment when he said it was strange to read historical fiction about a time in which he had lived.
The beginning of the novel is set in Mexico in the midst of the chaotic household of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. Our main character, Harrison Shepherd lived and worked with Rivera and Kahlo until they had a falling out with their house guest, Leon Trotsky. Then Harrison Shepherd lived and worked with Trotsky, witnessing his death and motivating him to move back to the US. Fast forward, Harrison Shepherd ends up in Ashville, North Carolina where he settles into an agoraphobic lifestyle with the ever efficient Violet Brown as an assistant. He writes novels about the Aztecs until he is interogated by the FBI under the leadership of J. Edgar Hoover. We experience the horrors of the MeCarthy era where up to 12,000 people lost their jobs and careers after being blacklisted as a communist threat to the United States. Tim shared a great Vermont fact that it was a Vermont Senator, Ralph Flanders who was noted for introducing a 1954 motion in the Senate to censure Senator Joseph McCarty.
We end the novel with Violet Brown writing what we know as Lacuna with the diaries she has kept of Harrison Shepard's life. We also revisit the lacuna Harrison found when he was a boy on the coast. Other connections with lacunas were found in the book including Frida Kahlo's moving central quote about how the most important thing about a person is what is not seen or hidden. Mindy pointed out this central theme while other lacuna's were cited as the gaps in Harrison's relationships, as well as references to the ending of the novel.
Our discussion mirrored the positive NY Times Book Review and the not so positive NPR Book Review. In any case, the discussion was lively and fun, as usual. Preceded by a much more lively conversations of topics worthy of a murder mystery!
Our next novel is Canada by Richard Ford. Here is the NY Times Review. We will meet at Cindy's on May 20th.
