Barbara Kingsolver at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul for Talking Volumes on Wednesday night. / Photo by Tom Campbell
Writer Barbara Kingsolver, cherished for such novels as "Animal Dreams" and "The Poisonwood Bible," spoke at a sold-out Talking Volumes event Wednesday night at St. Paul's Fitzgerald Theater.
Kingsolver's newest book is "The Lacuna," set in the 1930s and 1940s in Mexico and the United States and touching on the lives of artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky, the Red Scare of Sen. Joseph McCarthy and a male narrator, Harrison Shepherd, who goes from wide-eyed boy to celebrated writer and suspected Communisit sympathizer.
"I get so caught up in my characters," said Kingsolver. "After living so long with Harrison Shepherd, I worry about him. I want to cook for him."
After waiting nine years since her last novel, Kingsolver's publishers pounced on this one. She said she only finished "The Lacuna" in April of this year and that "it was moved into production much faster than usual." Since its publication, she has worked on what she called "the Kingsolver industry," including translations, the audio book, personal appearances and correspondence. "But what I would most like to be doing right now -- apart from being here with you all -- is to be at home, writing my next book," she said.
Kingsolver's Talking Volumes interview with Kerri Miller will be broadcast at 10 a.m. Monday, Nov. 16 on Minnesota Public Radio, and watch for a video excerpt at startribune.com soon. Go here for the the Star Tribune's review of the new novel, and here for a recent profile of Kingsolver by Star Tribune writer Kristin Tillotson.
Have you read "The Lacuna" yet? How do you like it compared to other Kingsolver books, such as "The Poisonwood Bible," "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" or "Animal Dreams"?
