New Arrivals

ADULT FICTION

"The Lacuna" by Barbara Kingsolver - "Kingsolver's novel focuses on Harrison William Shepherd, the product of a divorced American father and a Mexican mother. After getting kicked out of his American military academy, Harrison spends his formative years in Mexico in the 1930s in the household of Diego Rivera; his wife, Frida Kahlo; and their houseguest, Leon Trotsky, who is hiding from Soviet assassins. After Trotsky is assassinated, Harrison returns to the U.S., settling down in Asheville, N.C., where he becomes an author of historical potboilers (e.g., Vassals of Majesty) and is later investigated as a possible subversive. Narrated in the form of letters, diary entries and newspaper clippings, the novel takes a while to get going, but once it does, it achieves a rare dramatic power that reaches its emotional peak when Harrison wittily and eloquently defends himself before the House Un-American Activities Committee (on the panel is a young Dick Nixon). 'Employed by the American imagination,' is how one character describes Harrison, a term that could apply equally to Kingsolver as she masterfully resurrects a dark period in American history with the assured hand of a true literary artist. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY


YOUNG ADULT

"Eternal" by Cynthia Leitich Smith - "..this novel is a witty, dark love story of death and redemption. Miranda dreams of one day being a star, but she's already captured the heart of one fan: her lifelong guardian angel Zachary. When he sees her death approach, he desperately breaks the rules to prevent it, an act that dooms both of their souls: Zachary is cast out of Heaven, and Miranda lives long enough to be made a vampire. A year later, Miranda has settled into her wicked life as the glamorous daughter of the vampire king, and Zachary has been sent to their estate on a mission that may earn back his wings. Forced to confront the monster Miranda has become, Zachary is determined to save her soul and redeem them both. Smith's take on aristocratic vampire society is a sometimes humorous, sometimes horrible mix of the niceties of high society and the blase violence of monsters, while angels appear to be a largely bureaucratic organization. Miranda and Zachary are complex, sympathetic characters, and their hopeful ending is well earned." - Krista Hutley, -Booklist