The Lacuna

I took The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver, winner of this year's Orange Prize, away with me on holiday. I have enjoyed this writer's books before so was optimistic that this would be an engrossing read.

I must admit to being a bit disappointed at first; the swimming scenes at the start did not grip me and I struggled to keep reading, but once the central character Harrison Shepherd grew up and found his independence in Mexico, in the home of Diego Rivera the book really took off for me. The real historical background observing some of the life of artists Rivera and Frida Kahlo, followed by the arrival of Trotsky, opened up a colourful and eccentric world. Kingsolver's gift lies in not over-burdening us with fact, but in allowing us to know just enough of this real history to ground the story in reality, describing it through the eyes of an unusual and engaging fictional narrator.

This Mexican section of the book was satisfying in itself and at the end (roughly half way through the total length) I wondered how Kingsolver would keep my interest. I need not have worried. Now set in the USA, the narrative focused on the quiet writing life of the old-fashioned but very perceptive secretary, Violet Brown, who protects him from the outside world. Alongside this the relentless surveillance by the FBI seemed bizarre but full of suspense.

The novel is all about the mismatch between reality and public perception and
the constant shifts in tone as it unfolds through letters, reports and diaries, as well as vividly illustrating this 'lacuna', keep testing your own reactions as a reader. It forced me to think how important it is to read newspapers critically and never to take reports of events at face value. What would I have thought of this writer if I had lived through this period of extreme nervousness and political anxiety?

Its a long time since I felt I didn't want a book to end, but I certainly felt it with this one. Kingsolver has been criticised for being too didactic and she certainly came in for criticism for comments she made after the events of 9/11. But for me, the quality of her writing and the sympathy she has for her characters override any sense of being lectured. Reading this has also made me want to see some of the work of both artsists, Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo as well as read more factual history about Mexico at this time. It has opened my eyes. It is a perfect read for Pages Ago.

Image shows cover of American edition of The Lacuna which is more interesting than the UK cover, in my view

An heir was needed

On July 8th the final Trafford Wordfest ‘Pages Ago’ event took place when Dr Kate Williams gave a talk at Urmston Library on her book Becoming Queen about the young Queen Victoria ( see review from The Independent by Lorraine Fletcher here) . Her description of the events of the family strife behind Victoria’s birth, childhood and accession to the throne was vivid and humorous.

George III produced 15 children who had 56 children of their own between them, not one of whom was legitimate. The Prince Regent’s unhappy marriage did produce an heir, Princess Charlotte of Wales , but her death giving birth to a still-born son in 1817 led to an unseemly dash among George III’s remaining children to produce an heir. This was won by Edward, Duke of Kent, the fourth son, who fathered the future Queen Victoria, but died less than a year later leaving the young heiress to be brought up in a strict and unhappy childhood.

This was an absolutely fascinating talk, very much enjoyed by its audience.

Vintage Penrith

Penrith Library Assistant Rae Lusby says she has enjoyed putting together a display of history books with a Victorian and Edwardian theme, ready for the 'Vintage Penrith' festival at the end of the month. The library will be hosting several talks and a display of old photographs so we thought that it would be good to connect this to a Pages Ago display. She has initally displayed about 30 pairs of titles, but may have to put some more together depending on how well they issue. It was hard to include talking books and large print, but have managed one set of each and Rae says she will keep looking for more!

Rae had a beautiful a jacket dating from 1886 that belonged to her Great Grandmother and thought it would make a good focal point for the display and tie in well with the 'Vintage Penrith' theme, so this is on top of the display along with a photo of the family.

Time To Read particularly likes the way that Cumbria Libraries are literally tying together fiction and non-fiction titles, leaving readers no option but to take them together. The service has created a feedback form which goes out with the books, asking readers to tell us if they have read something out of the ordinary for them as a result of this. If they do, the displays will have been a big success.

Radio discussion and other news

The Radio Lancashire Book Club supported by the Blackburn with Darwen Library Authority, is currently reading The Red Necklace: a story of the French Revolution by Sally Gardner, to tie in with Pages Ago. Although ostensibly a teenage book, it can equally be enjoyed by adult readers - 'the drama moves from Paris to London and back, as the Revolution gathers momentum, and the hope of liberty and the dream of equality are crushed beneath the wheel of terror. Too many secrets, too many murders, and the blade of the guillotine is yet to fall .....'

Radio Lancs broadcasts across Lancashire and Blackpool as well as Blackburn, so other authorities may have some demand for the title. Some of our reading group members go along for the live broadcast and the discussion of The Red Necklace will be on Tuesday, July 20 from 11am - 1 pm so there is still time for readers/listeners to go along to their library for the book.


On 1st July Access Trafford Libraries were very pleased to welcome Anne O’Brien to Timperley Library to give a talk on her new historical novel as part of Trafford’s Wordfest and Pages Ago. Her book : ‘Virgin Widow: England’s Forgotten Queen’ is the story of Anne Neville, daughter of the Earl of Warwick (the ‘Kingmaker’). Caught up in the shifting fortunes of the Wars of the Roses, Anne was married first to Edward, the Lancastrian Prince of Wales, and then to the Yorkist Richard of Gloucester (later Richard III).

Anne O’Brien talked about her experiences as a writer – how she started out, getting an agent, as well as why she chose the subject for this novel. She gave background to the lives of women in powerful families at this time, and highlighted the careers of some particularly formidable ladies in the fifteenth century.

Anne is an excellent speaker, measured, informed and thoughtful, who provided our audience with an enjoyable and instructive event. We look forward to her next novel about Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Pages Ago makes Flikr

Warrington Libraries wanted to widen access to the Pages Ago promotion and bring in an Equality & Diversity dimension. So, working with an ESOL tutor, we set up a session at Warrington Central Library to look at our local studies photographs on Flickr. 4 women attended – 2 Indian and 2 Bangladeshi. The session focused on developing IT skills, speaking and listening skills, reading (through looking at comments posted) and writing (through search terms and posting comments). We also talked about library use and looked at some local history books with lots of illustrations.

They took back photos and history books to use as inspiration for writing in class and to read for pleasure. 3 of the women were already library members, but the fourth one joined. We are now looking at turning their favourite pictures and their comments into a book, which we will add into our Quick Reads section for future use by adult learners.

Another legacy outcome was an offer by one of the learners to take photos of her community eg festivals, dress, and give copies to us for our archives. She also offered to set up an event at which I could come along to talk about reading and the library with members of her community. We also got good feedback on what sort of books they’d like to see in the library.

The tutor was thrilled and all the women said they really enjoyed the session and learnt a lot. One said “ I’m going to go back and share everything I’ve learnt today with my community”.

Trafford Libraries are hosting great History Book events

Access Trafford libraries’ first ‘Pages Ago’ event in Wordfest 2010 took place on June 24th at Urmston Library. It was a talk by Andrew Davies, about his book The Gangs of Manchester. Sixty people attended and the feedback has been excellent; lots of people have said how much they appreciate this kind of event in libraries, and how much they would like to see more.

The talk itself was absolutely fascinating, and became not only about the book, but also about things that have happened since the book was published, such as the author being approached by people descended from the same families as some of the people described, and a play called Angels with Manky Faces which will be held on 15th July:

Still to come in Wordfest are talks from Anne O'Brien, author of Virgin Widow- England's Forgotten Queen ( about Anne Neville who married Richard III) and Kate Williams, author of Becoming Queen, about the young Queen Victoria.

Thanks to Liz McKay of Trafford Libraries for supplying this information. Liz can be contacted on Liz.McKay@trafford.gov.uk

Wolf Hall wins Walter Scott prize

Hilary Mantels' novel Wolf Hall has been named as the winner of the inaugural Walter Scott prize for historical fiction sponsored by the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch – distant descendants of Scott. As the organisers of Pages Ago, our own promotion of historical reading of all sorts, we have had a particular interest in following the development of this prize.

Our very supportive partner from Manchester University, Jerome de Groot, published a piece in The Scotsman on Saturday to coincide with the prize -winner announcement. His article entitled The new time-travellers says "Historical fiction works by presenting something familiar but simultaneously distant from our lives. Its world must have heft and authenticity – it must feel right – but at the same time, the reader knows that the novel is a representation of something that is lost, that cannot be reconstructed but only guessed at. This dissonance, it seems to me, lies at the heart of historical fiction and makes it one of the most interesting genres around."

While delighted that one of our launch speakers, Sarah Dunant, was also on the shortlist, I can't admit to being surprised that Wolf Hall was the eventual winner. The sheer scale and scope of the novel is impressive and it seems to be written with such authority and concern for historical detail that it seems to be in a class of its own. At the same time it demonstrates the complex humanity of its central characters, which is needed to make all that detail so readable.

Other Bloggers have already been busy commenting on this win, notably Sarah Johnson on the excellent Blog Reading the Past

It must be clear by now that Hilary Mantel has performed a tremendous service to the "genre" historical novel. Particularly by winning the ManBooker 2009 prize, Wolf Hall must have been read and discussed by everyone who considers that they must keep up with their reading of literary fiction, as well as by 1000s of other "ordinary" readers. Certainly it makes our promotion of a wider range of historical reading of all sorts, seem very timely.