The novel begins with the terrors of mother and son every morning, the fantasy of the aulladores (howlers) coming to devour them, only their bones and Will's writing to give evidence of their existence.
Writing is an essential element in the story, as young Will, the protagonist, fills little notebooks endlessly, spreading his days in Mexico in paper. Having a Mexican mother and an American father, this duplicity in his identity is even displayed in his name: he is 'Will' to his mother Salomè, 'Pícaro' to Leandro, the Mexican cook who teaches him how tamales are properly made, 'Harry' to his American father, 'Insólito' to Frida, 'Sweet Buns' to Señor Rivera.
At the onset of the narrative, Salomé has abandoned America and her American husband for Don Enrique and Isla Pixol in Mexico. It is there where Will discovers the cave in the beach, its possibility of escape and a new reality. Later, when Salomé finds a new man, they move to the capital, the DF. There, he meets a man called 'The Painter', becoming the painting ixer for him. Soon, we discover that this man is not other than Diego Rivera, the famous muralist, and that the Azteca queen that walks every morning through the local market is his wife, the painter Frida Kahlo.
However, Will's luck runs out and he is sent to his father in Washington, where he is schooled as a boarding student. His writing continues and we, the readers, learn od his adventures and misfortunes from them directly.
After being expelled from school, he returnes to Mexico and becomes an important asset in Diego and Frida's home. There, his life becomes interwined with important historical events as Trotsky' exile in Mexico and his fragile safety in the Rivera's household is a continuous struggle for the protagonists. After Trostsky's death, Will returns to America, where he starts writing novels about the Azteca empire. However, his former job in the household of famous communists makes him the target of the McCarthism movement.
As you can see, the plot has many suculent twists as a Will's true adventurous life is unfolded. Kingsolver's writing is magic and you can feel the heat of the Mexican atmosphere in your skin.
A 'lacuna' is a gap, an epty space in a story, a cave in the sea, a part that is missing for something to become a whole, to be utterly complete. There are always 'lacunas' in a narration ans is us, the readers, who have the marvellous opportunity to fill them with our dreams, our desires, our imagination.
Ana Ovejero
mail: ana.ovejero@gmail.com
instagram:ananbooks
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