arts & entertainment
The storyteller
Book Pick
Barbara Kingsolver’s novels
dissect and confront beliefs
1980s she took up graduate studies at the University
of Arizona, where she earned a master’s degree in
ecology and evolutionary biology. She then became
a science writer for the university,
which led to freelance feature writing
and journalism.
Pregnant with her first child in
1986, Kingsolver suffered from insomnia. Rather than baking, cleaning or
counting sheep, she sat in a closet at
night and wrote The Bean Trees, which
became an instant success with readers
and critics.
DEBORAH FEINGOLD
“I always begin with a theme,”
Kingsolver tells The Connection. “In
The Lacuna I looked at art in politics
and politics in art. There was a certain
uneasiness in this country that needed
exploration—around World War II and then during
the McCarthy era. What happened to create such
discomfort with political dissidents? What effect did
that have on the American psyche, and, ultimately,
what does it mean to be an American?”
The dictionary defines lacuna as “a gap or missing part, as in a manuscript, series, or logical argument.” In The Lacuna it is used as a foreshadowing
of events to come and, in its larger meaning, as the
enormous chasm between truth and perception.
The author’s insight into human nature encourages
readers to develop what she refers to as “a healthy
suspicion of gossip.”
Because of protagonist Harrison Shepherd’s
sojourn—as cook, typist and general dogsbody—in
the Mexican households of Frida Kahlo and Diego
Rivera while they harbored Leon Trotsky, he is
accused of being a Communist. The accusation comes
years later, and Shepherd goes from being a celebrated author to one reviled by the media, dropped
by his publisher and shunned by his neighbors.
e T ot e n a n l o h f i r m Kingsolver is also a member of the Rock Bottom n , T Matt Groening, Dave Barry and Stephen h r f gs e
That kind of fall from grace is one Kingsolver
can only imagine. This multitalented, self-described
“working mom” has been awarded two honorary
degrees. To round out her accomplishments,
Kingsolver is also a member of the Rock Bottom
Remainders, a rock-and-roll band consisting
of published writers, including Amy Tan,
FRANCE FREEMAN
Matt Groening, Dave Barry and Stephen
King, among others.
Despite all that she has going on,
let’s hope that we won’t have to wait
another nine years for that cluttered
office to produce Barbara Kingsolver’s
next novel. C
By Valerie Ryan
“I AM TALKING TO you from my very cluttered
office in an old farmhouse, looking through windows
onto the forest.” The farmhouse, located in southern
Appalachia, sounds like the perfect setting for the tireless research and roving
imagination of Barbara Kingsolver,
author, poet, essayist, classical pianist,
biologist, small-scale farmer.
“I think of myself as a scientist of the
human heart, untangling personalities,
personal and social histories,” says
Kingsolver of her work. “No person acts
in a vacuum. We are all interconnected
with history and family. I try to construct
relationships that remind people of their
own lives. Fiction can create empathy in
readers and help them to understand
themselves and others.”
This idea informs everything she writes, from
her earliest works, such as Animal Dreams, to The
Poisonwood Bible, the enduring exploration of a
family’s undoing and rebuilding in the Belgian
Congo, to her latest, The Lacuna, her first novel in
nine years.
Kingsolver attended DePauw University, in
Indiana, where she studied classical piano before
switching her major to biology. Despite her scientific bent, she has always been a storyteller, writing
stories and essays as a child, keeping a journal from
the age of 8.
In the late 1970s, Kingsolver lived in Greece,
France and Tucson, Arizona, working at a variety of
jobs: archaeological digger, copy editor, housecleaner,
biological researcher and translator. In the early
Barbara Kingsolver
LIFE OFFERS certain truths.
Among them is the fact that
when Barbara Kingsolver
writes a new book, I will
read it—and love it. Her
latest novel, The Lacuna,
is no exception. Harrison
Shepherd, a U.S.-born citizen,
grows up in Mexico, where
he holds several odd jobs.
Years later his work for Leon
Trotsky and friendship with
Frida Kahlo come back to
haunt him.
One of the riveting
aspects of the novel is the
way Kingsolver brings Frida
Kahlo’s artistic temperament and physical suffering
to life, portraying her feisty
nature, sarcasm, flamboyant
clothes and utter fearlessness—all shot through with
intensity and humor.
The Lacuna is available
in most Costco warehouses
and at Costco.com.
For more book picks,
see page 47.
COSTCO HAS 50 signed copies of Barbara
Kingsolver’s The Lacuna to give away. For
a chance to win, send an e-mail to give
away@costco.com, with “Barbara Kingsolver” in the subject line. Or print your
name, address and daytime phone number on a postcard or letter and send it to:
Barbara Kingsolver, The Costco Connection,
P.O. Box 34088, Seattle, WA 98124-1088.
NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND IS
NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN THIS SWEEPSTAKES.
Purchase will not improve odds of winning. S weepstakes is sponsored by
Harper Collins Publishers, 10 East 53rd St., New York, NY 10022. Open to
legal residents of the U.S. (except Puerto Rico) who are age 18 or older at
the time of entry. One entry per household. Entries must be received by
December 1, 2009. Winners will be randomly selected and noti;ed by mail
on or before January 2, 2010. The value of the prize is $26.99. Void where
prohibited. Winners are responsible for all applicable federal, state and local
taxes. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received.
Employees of Costco or HarperCollins and their families are not eligible.
Valerie Ryan owns Cannon Beach Book
Company, on the north coast of Oregon.
NOVEMBER 2009 ;e Costco Connection 43
Pennie ClarkIanniciello
Costco Book Buyer
