A bend in the stars

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A bend in the stars

Title:

A bend in the stars

Personal Author:

Barenbaum, Rachel, author.

ISBN:

9781538746264

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

456 pages ; 24 cm.

General Note:

"A novel"--Jacket.

Abstract:

n Russia, in the summer of 1914, as war with Germany looms and the Czar's army tightens its grip on the local Jewish community, Miri Abramov and her brilliant physicist brother, Vanya, are facing an impossible decision. Since their parents drowned fleeing to America, Miri and Vanya have been raised by their babushka, a famous matchmaker who has taught them to protect themselves at all costs: to fight, to kill if necessary, and always to have an escape plan. But now, with fierce, headstrong Miri on the verge of becoming one of Russia's only female surgeons, and Vanya hoping to solve the final puzzles of Einstein's elusive theory of relativity, can they bear to leave the homeland that has given them so much? Before they have time to make their choice, war is declared and Vanya goes missing, along with Miri's fiancé. Miri braves the firing squad to go looking for them both. As the eclipse that will change history darkens skies across Russia, not only the safety of Miri's own family but the future of science itself hangs in the balance.

Subject Term:

Jews -- Russia -- Fiction.

Women surgeons -- Fiction.

Physicists -- Fiction.

Missing persons -- Fiction.

World War, 1914-1918 -- Russia -- Fiction.

Man-woman relationships -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Russia -- History -- Nicholas II, 1894-1917 -- Fiction.

Genre:

Historical fiction.

Romance fiction.

Electronic Access:

Language:

English

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Shelf Number	Location
Searching... Central Library	Book	FIC BARE	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

All the Light We Cannot See meets The Nightingale in this literary WWI-era novel and epic love story of a brilliant young doctor who races against Einstein to solve one of the universe's great mysteries.
In Russia, in the summer of 1914, as war with Germany looms and the Czar's army tightens its grip on the local Jewish community, Miri Abramov and her brilliant physicist brother, Vanya, are facing an impossible decision. Since their parents drowned fleeing to America, Miri and Vanya have been raised by their babushka, a famous matchmaker who has taught them to protect themselves at all costs: to fight, to kill if necessary, and always to have an escape plan. But now, with fierce, headstrong Miri on the verge of becoming one of Russia's only female surgeons, and Vanya hoping to solve the final puzzles of Einstein's elusive theory of relativity, can they bear to leave the homeland that has given them so much?
Before they have time to make their choice, war is declared and Vanya goes missing, along with Miri's fiancé. Miri braves the firing squad to go looking for them both. As the eclipse that will change history darkens skies across Russia, not only the safety of Miri's own family but the future of science itself hangs in the balance.
Grounded in real history -- and inspired by the solar eclipse of 1914 -- A Bend in the Stars offers a heart-stopping account of modern science's greatest race amidst the chaos of World War I, and a love story as epic as the railways crossing Russia.

Author Notes

Rachel Barenbaum 's debut novel, A Bend In The Stars , was named a New York Times Summer Reading Selection and a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection. It is also a Boston Globe bestseller. Rachel's second novel, The History of Time Travel , is forthcoming from Grand Central (2021).
Rachel is a prolific writer and reviewer for the Los Angeles Review of Books and DeadDarlings . She is a graduate of GrubStreet's "Novel Incubator." In a former life she was a hedge fund manager and a spin instructor. She has degrees from Harvard in Business, and Literature and Philosophy. She lives in Hanover, NH with her husband, three children, and dog named Zishe -- after the folk hero who inspires many tales around their dinner table.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Set in 1914 Kovno, Russia, Barenbaum's rousing debut follows two headstrong siblings striving to build their lives amid the fog and confusion of impending war. Jewish Miri Abramov and her fiancAc, Yuri, both work as doctors, but Miri is often shunned (even by patients) in a society where a woman surgeon is so uncommon that some even believe she is a witch. Miri's brother, Vanya, is a brilliant physicist bent on expanding and/or disproving Albert Einstein's still unpublished theory of relativity. He believes that proof of his equations lies in the August 1914 solar eclipse, which locals see as an omen of the devil. Vanya hopes to photograph the celestial phenomenon to show that light, in fact, bends as day turns into night. He also hopes to sell a photograph to American scientists, thereby buying safe passage for him, Miri, and Yuri. But as WWI intensifies, Miri is called away to the front lines, and Vanya must risk being captured to complete his observations. Barenbaum deepens the narrative with strong secondary characters marked by competing desires, such as the passions of Russian soldier Sasha Petrov and the deviousness of Russian Kir, who is trying to steal intellectual property. Fans of Kristin Hannah will enjoy Barenbaum's exhilarating tale. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

Russia, 1914. It's a dangerous time, with WWI simmering and Kovno's Jewish community the focus of misplaced hostility. Miri Abramov, a Jewish female surgeon, is unique, and her brother Vanya is also exceptional as a physicist on the verge of solving the puzzle of relativity. Both live with their wise babushka, a matchmaker whose lessons include always having an escape plan handy. Before they can put theirs into action, Vanya and Miri's fiancé, Yuri, disappear while photographing the eclipse that could provide proof of Vanya's theories and offer a ticket to freedom in America. Joined by Sasha, a soldier she treated, Miri braves an increasingly hostile country to search for her brother and a fiancé she may not want to find when her feelings for Sasha evolve. Barenbaum's debut focuses less on the science of Vanya's quest in favor of Miri's self-doubt about her surgical abilities and entanglements of the heart. The result is a romantic adventure with a neatly dovetailed ending that will appeal to fans of Kristin Hannah and Pam Jenoff.--Bethany Latham Copyright 2019 Booklist

Library Journal Review

DEBUT Early on, Einstein's theory of relativity was a little shaky and needed more work. In Kovno, Russia, Jewish physicist Vanya Abramov devises promising equations in hopes of proving them with photos of stars to be taken near Kiev during the solar eclipse on August 21, 1914. Terrible obstacles arise: powerful competitors steal his work, the tsar conscripts all able men to fight the kaiser, and a wave of pogroms threatens all Jews. His sister Miriam and her fiancé Yuri, both surgeons at the Jewish hospital, join him in his quest to meet a well-equipped American group at the eclipse site. The Jewish travelers suffer difficulties and loss. Former hedge-fund manager Barenbaum weaves breakthrough science, overwhelming anti-Semitism, a romantic triangle, and cataclysmic war in this debut that starts out slowly but soon roars like a runaway locomotive as the three face challenges while striving to retain their essential goodness. VERDICT As with Boris Akunin's Erast Fandorin and David Downing's Jack McColl in two series about czarist Russia, Miri, Yuri and Vanya make an unforgettable impression. Their creator, a talented, confident new writer, transforms historical facts and traditions by adding propulsive action and convincing emotional insights. [See Prepub Alert, 11/19/18.]-Barbara Conaty, Falls Church, VA © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.