Skip to content
Cover of The lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

Book · Historical fiction

The lacuna

by Barbara Kingsolver

Page count, estimated reading time and reading quiz: everything to know before you start The lacuna, and the Vread challenge to get to the end.

Pages
577
Reading time
≈ 10 h 30 min
Checkpoints
16
Genre
Historical
Take the challengeAlready have the app? Open the book

Free on iPhone and Android.

How long does it take to read The lacuna?

At 577 pages, The lacuna is a long book. Expect about 10 hours 30 minutes of reading to finish it, based on 250 words per page and an average reading speed of 230 words per minute. A fast reader will go quicker; a careful read (or reading in a second language) will take longer.

At 30 minutes a day, that is about 21 days of reading. At the median pace of Vread readers, 72 pages per reading day, it takes 9 reading days. For a book of this length (400 to 599 pages), Vread readers who finish it take a median of 5.3 days between the first and the last checkpoint (Vread Reading Barometer 2026).

Reading days to finish it
30 minutes a day21 days
Vread median pace (72 pp./day)9 days

Estimates; see the method at the bottom of the page.

Prove you read it

The Vread challenge: 16 checkpoints

  1. Checkpoint 1, page 36
  2. Checkpoint 2, page 72
  3. Checkpoint 3, page 108
  4. Checkpoint 4, page 144
  5. Checkpoint 5, page 180
  6. Checkpoint 6, page 216
  7. Checkpoint 7, page 252
  8. Checkpoint 8, page 289
  9. Checkpoint 9, page 325
  10. Checkpoint 10, page 361
  11. Checkpoint 11, page 397
  12. Checkpoint 12, page 433
  13. Checkpoint 13, page 469
  14. Checkpoint 14, page 505
  15. Checkpoint 15, page 541
  16. Checkpoint 16, page 577

In Vread, The lacuna is split into 16 checkpoints, one every 36 pages or so. At each checkpoint, a question covers the passage you have just read: a correct answer validates the step, and your progress moves forward like a training plan.

The challenge: validate all 16 checkpoints through to the last page. No giant quiz at the end, no summary to copy out: short questions along the way that prove the book was actually read. It also works as a reading quiz to check your understanding before a test.

Also available in French on Vread.

Illustrative example

Checkpoint 1/16pp. 1–36

What a checkpoint looks like

A short, precise question about the pages you have just read: a character, a place, a choice.

The answer is in the text: reply in the app.

This is not a question from The lacuna: to avoid spoilers, the real questions stay in the app.

Answer in the app, one checkpoint at a time.

Summary, quiz, reviews: frequently asked questions

How many pages is The lacuna?
The edition listed on Vread has 577 pages. The exact count varies by edition (paperback, hardback, ebook).
How long does it take to read The lacuna?
About 10 hours 30 minutes of reading, or 21 days at 30 minutes a day.
Is there a quiz on The lacuna?
Yes: the Vread app has 16 reading questions on The lacuna, one per checkpoint, unlocked as you read.
Where can I find a summary of The lacuna?
Vread does not publish summaries: the app supports reading the book itself, part by part. Checkpoint questions cover what you have just read, which makes them a good way to check you did not miss anything.

Similar books: historical fiction

All books: historical fictionAll genres

Read The lacuna with Vread

Add the book to your library, read at your own pace in whatever format you use, and validate each checkpoint. Vread is free on iPhone and Android.

Take the challenge

Written by Vread from its catalogue data (page count of the listed edition, checkpoints, ratings aggregated from 10 ratings). No summary or publisher text is reproduced. Reading times are estimates; see the method in the Vread Reading Barometer (in French).