Wow.
The story of Harrison Shepherd, a boy with a mother constantly chasing the next man. He is forced to make a way for himself--and becomes one of the servants in Diego Rivera's home--plaster mixer, cook, typist. Oh, and don't forget the others that were in Rivera's home during the 1930s--wife Frida Kahlo and friend Leo Trotsky.
Shepherd returns to the US and becomes a writer, living in Asheville. It's there we meet one of my favorite characters in the book--Violet Brown, his Gal Friday/secretary extraordinaire. The Red Scare destroys his career.
The richness of the language just washes over the reader. It twists and turns, but does so naturally. Unlike some of those books where a fictional character interacts with history, this felt natural and real. My historical knowledge of this era is limited, but it all rang true. And even though I'm about to go check out some of the real history behind this book, I don't even care how right Kingsolver was.
It's an amazing, thoughtful, beautiful book. Highly, highly recommended.