This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.
I have had an on-off relationship with Barbara Kingsolver having probably being one of the minority who found her bestseller, The Poisonwood Bible, like walking through treacle however I then tried The Lacuna and loved it as it had much more of a story.
I am not going to say that this is a page turner and it has a very slow start however the prose is so exceptional and the story so poignant as these farming families in Tennessee struggle to survive financially. I was completely absorbed and transported to another world.
The story of climate change, poverty, the decline of craftmanship in the face of mass production, the cost of research, the disposable society and the increasing waste of goods and the fight to keep things as they are in this ever-changing world all go to make a fascinating book.
The human journey of Dellarobia from a desperate wife seeking release to an independent woman taking control of her life was very enjoyable and although I did feel very sorry for Cub, I appreciated the resolution of their story.
The following line, early on in the book really appealed to me and shows the wealth of Kingsolver’s descriptive ability, “Whoever was in charge of the weather had put a recall on blue and nailed up this mess of dirty-white sky like a lousy sheet-rock job.”
This book will not be for everyone as it is long and slow but ultimately it is worth persevering!