Relativity

Antonia Hayes's first novel, Relativity, blends quirk with compelling family dynamics for an often funny and occasionally heartbreaking look at ties that bind as well as divides that cannot be overcome.

Ethan Forsythe can't remember a time when Mark, his father, was a part of their lives in Sydney, Australia. His mother, Claire, devotes the love she once gave to Mark and to her former career in ballet to her brilliant, science-obsessed son, who has a form of synesthesia that allows him to see phenomena usually invisible to the naked eye, such as sound waves or the Doppler effect. Ethan also has a lack of social skills and is bullied at school. Meanwhile, Mark returns to Sydney to see his ailing father, who insists upon meeting Ethan before dying. Although Mark and Ethan's shared love of physics forges an almost immediate connection, Claire fears learning the reason their family splintered will hurt Ethan far worse than life without a father.

Hayes tackles difficult themes and situations: Claire's perception that her failure to protect her son left him irrevocably changed; her vow to keep Mark out of their lives; how families can determine its members' futures despite contrary intentions. However, the story gets considerable lift from Ethan's awed devotion to the beauty of science and Hayes's knack for turning matters of physics into graceful prose. While readers may expect the exact opposite of the ending they get, Hayes makes brave choices throughout for a story that feels authentic and characters who stick in the mind and heart. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads

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