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    Relativity
    Relativity
    Relativity
    Ebook420 pages4 hours

    Relativity

    By Antonia Hayes

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    A “beautifully written, heartbreaking” (S. J. Watson) debut novel about a gifted boy who discovers the truth about his past, his overprotective single mother who tries desperately to shield him from it, and the father he has never met who has unexpectedly returned.

    “Original, compassionate, cleverly plotted, and genuinely difficult to put down.” –Graeme Simsion, New York Times bestselling author of The Rosie Project

    Twelve-year-old Ethan Forsythe, an exceptionally talented boy obsessed with physics and astronomy, has been raised alone by his mother in Sydney, Australia. Claire, a former professional ballerina, has been a wonderful parent to Ethan, but he’s becoming increasingly curious about his father’s absence in his life. Claire is fiercely protective of her talented, vulnerable son—and of her own feelings. But when Ethan falls ill, tied to a tragic event that occurred during his infancy, her tightly-held world is split open.

    Thousands of miles away on the western coast of Australia, Mark is trying to forget about the events that tore his family apart, but an unexpected call forces him to confront his past and return home. When Ethan secretly intercepts a letter from Mark to Claire, he unleashes long-suppressed forces that—like gravity—pull the three together again, testing the limits of love and forgiveness.

    Told from the alternating points of view of Ethan and each of his parents, Relativity is a poetic and soul-searing exploration of unbreakable bonds, irreversible acts, the limits of science, and the magnitude of love.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGallery Books
    Release dateMay 3, 2016
    ISBN9781501105098
    Author

    Antonia Hayes

    Antonia Hayes, who grew up in Sydney and spent her twenties in Paris, lives in San Francisco with her husband and son. Relativity is her first novel.

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    Reviews for Relativity

    4/5

    30 ratings8 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Twelve-year-old Ethan is a bright boy, who loves physics and science. His mom, Claire, loves him with a fierceness that she can barely fathom sometimes. It's just Ethan and Claire living happily together in Sydney. However, a sudden accident forces Claire to confront her past, especially what happened with Ethan's father, Mark. At the same time, Ethan must deal with his own emotions about his absent father.

      Hayes' book is well-written, with strongly developed, complicated characters who jump off the page. It's a small cast of characters: Ethan, Mark, Claire, and a few others. I fell immediately for Ethan, who is lovable, sweet, and slightly nerdy. Claire and Mark are slightly more problematic. Mark especially is a very difficult character with whom it is hard to sympathize. Hayes does an excellent job of unfurling her plot in such a way that the reader is as perplexed as the characters. The storyline is tense and runs the gamut of emotions.

      The book revolves a lot around science. While much of the storyline uses science and physics to its advantage--for instance, I found the idea of genetic memory fascinating--at times, I also found my eyes glazing over at the scientific passages. Sometimes the science overshadowed the actual plot. Still, overall this is a sharp, well-written novel with in-depth characters. A strong 3.5 stars.

      I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in return for an unbiased review (thank you!); it is available everywhere on 5/3/2016.
    • 5/5
      Twelve-year-old Ethan Forsythe, his mother, Claire, and his father, Mark are the three alternating voices that spin out the narrative for this compelling tale whose far-reaching consequences stem from a single action. Claire, selfless in her devotion to her son, holds secrets while Mark remains trapped in the clutches of the past. Ethan, at twelve, is absorbed with physics and astronomy and is only now beginning to wonder at the absence of a father in his life. There’s an abundance of guilt, blame, and, ultimately redemption, yet it does not overwhelm the intelligence and charm of the story. A particularly sweet moment is the discovery, between father and son, that they both speak physics and relate to each other on a purely scientific level, giving a uniqueness to their relationship that is heartwarming. Readers are likely to find this multi-layered story difficult to set aside as its lessons resonate long after the final page is turned. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      This is a cleverly plotted and well-written book. It explores the similarities between the laws of physics and the principles characterizing relationships, in telling a story about three people whose lives illustrate these correspondences.Twelve-year-old Ethan Forsythe is a gifted boy with a genius I.Q. being raised by Claire, a single mom who used to be a ballerina. Ethan never knew his dad, but now that he is coming into puberty and his body is changing, he feels the loss of a male role model more acutely:“Men had their own language - foreskins, beards, erections - but he knew his mum couldn’t be his translator. Masculinity was a foreign dialect Ethan still needed to learn.”Moreover, he is getting bullied in school because of his being different. Will Fraser used to be Ethan’s best friend. Now, Will was embarrassed to be seen with him, and joined with the boys who bullied Ethan, calling Ethan “Stephen Hawking” (an intended insult that Ethan took as a compliment). But Ethan, fascinated with cosmology and physics and ordering his life by them, dealt with the situation accordingly:“Everything will be okay, he told himself. It’s just school. Not the end of the universe. Sure, since it could be expanding indefinitely at an accelerated rate, the end of the universe was probably inevitable. But it wasn’t going to happen today.”However, two things happen to upset Ethan’s equanimity. One is that his father Mark, now living on the other side of Australia, comes back to Sydney because his own father is dying, and wants to see Ethan before he dies.Another is that the bullying in school intensifies, with critical consequences.The momentum of these forces brings the characters back together again, but there are some principles that couldn’t be overcome, notably the Second Law of Thermodynamics and the Arrow of Time. But what about gravity, and quantum entanglement? The story leaves you guessing until the end about how it will turn out, much like the situation with Schrödinger's cat, the famous physics thought experiment. Discussion: The prose is very impressive in many ways. The author writes well, and manages to tie concepts from science seamlessly into the story, making them understandable as well as germane. For example, when Claire and Mark first met at a pub, Mark taught Claire how to play pool, explaining it to her by the concept of momentum. She later reflected on it:“Claire never had a mind for theories and science, but she always remembered that when bodies collided momentum was exchanged. Despite everything that happened and no matter how hard she tried, Claire couldn’t forget their beautiful collision. . . . Claire loathed it. She hated that she was never allowed to forget. Perhaps Mark still felt it too. But as much as she willed it to go away, that was the problem. Momentum couldn’t be destroyed.”Ethan also understands the world and himself using scientific knowledge. He knows that the constellations are pictures perceived out of groups of stars that only make sense when viewed from Earth, because the constituent stars are located in different places in time and space. Similarly, Ethan knows that his self - who he appears to be, is a picture made out of the sum of what happened to him at different times and places, that now tells a story. His story.Some of the author's writing, while still alluding to ideas from physics, is more notable for the other metaphorical pictures it evokes. For example, when Mark returns to Sydney on a plane flight from his home in Kalgoorlie:“In Sydney, it felt like the city and sky both grew from the ground. Space wasn’t infinite there - it had a limit, a lid - but it was the opposite out west. Everything was open and endless; the wide land seemed to hang from the wider stars. There was nothing familiar in Kalgoorlie to anchor him. He lived a new life on a new planet.”And there is this lovely image conveying a sense of a trip back home being like a trip in a time machine, an idea that recurs in the plot:“Sydney’s lights quivered in the distance as he stared out the tiny window of this soaring machine, piloting him straight into his past.”As for the characterization, I really had sympathy for Mark until the author inserted one passage into the story about what Mark did earlier in the day of Ethan’s injury that I thought was a gratuitous way to take that sympathy away. I didn’t like Claire much; I thought that in spite of her devotion to Ethan, she was too self-involved, selfish, and unobservant about the others in her life. Yet it was interesting that she was made out to be “the good person.” Both Mark and Claire were well-drawn though, neither being totally one-dimensional. I loved the kids, both Ethan as well as his friend Alison. Evaluation: I liked this book a lot, but thought there was a bit of unevenness in the quality of it. I didn’t think Claire and Mark always acted in a consistent way, and I thought the last section could have been omitted, maybe should have been.I wouldn’t mind at all seeing a sequel though; the story was so good in many ways, and I would love to know what happened next for the characters.
    • 4/5
      Ethan Forsythe is very gifted in his understanding of physics and astronomy, but not so good at understanding how to get along with his peers at school. He lives with his mother, Claire, and has never met his father. His father left when Ethan was a baby and Ethan is starting to wonder about him more and more. When something happens that sends him to the hospital, he starts to learn more about why his father left and his parents divorced - a secret his mother has kept from him.Then his father is in Sidney because his father is dying. His father wants to see Ethan before he dies so Mark contacts Claire to see if it would be possible. Now, the back story is slowly coming out and what should Ethan (and us, as well) believe? It's a heart breaking story and very well done.
    • 3/5
      Smartly plotted, with three well-developed characters, this suffered a bit from an over-emphasis on the physics metaphors and some slightly overwrought writing. Also: I can't be the only person getting a bit tired of the Aspergers-y kid characters can I?
    • 5/5
      I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A great first novel! Look forward to reading more from this author in the future. Well constructed and held my attention and interest throughout. Lots of surprise too. Not an "easy read"but definitely a smooth read. Only put it down to eat and sleep...
    • 5/5
      Ethan lives with his mother and his father isn't in the picture. While Ethan is extremely intelligent and knows everything there is to know about astronomy he's socially awkward and doesn't have any friends. Something happened to him when he was a baby, but his mother Claire hasn't told Ethan anything about it. She tries to keep her son safe and protected, but that's just an illusion. When Mark, Ethan's father, is back in Sydney her secrets are bound to come out. How will Ethan react when he learns about his past and what exactly did happen to him when he was a baby?

      Relativity is an impressive story. Ethan is such a sweet, gifted child, but he's also vulnerable and an easy target for bullies. My heart ached for him when I read about everything he's going through. He's strong, inventive, kind and forgiving, which makes him charming and endearing. Claire is closed off. She used to be a successful dancer, but is now living in the shadows. Ethan is her number one priority and she tries to shield him from the truth. They live such a secluded life. Claire doesn't have friends or family, so she and Ethan spend most of their time together. This might sound grim, but they love each other and there are plenty of happy moments. Their bond is fascinating. Claire has her flaws, but after reading about her past I could totally understand her behavior. Mark is smart and has always been interested in science. What happened with Ethan when he was a baby changed his life completely. I kept feeling ambivalent about his character, which is probably Antonia Hayes's exact intention. Reading about the family dynamics and slowly finding out what happened to Ethan when he was a baby kept me on the edge of my seat.

      Antonia Hayes writes about physics and astronomy in a way that is easily understandable. I absolutely loved that. She cleverly combines science with deep emotions and together this results in a multilayered imaginative story. I admired the way she combines creativity, rawness, brilliance and life altering mistakes with friendship and love. Nothing is black or white and she explores the grey in between in a sharp and original manner. She kept surprising me over and over again, which is something I thoroughly enjoyed.

      Relativity is a story about a bright and resourceful child. Ethan might be academically advanced, but he's also just a boy who loves his mother, but also wants a father and that is something Antonia Hayes never forgets. This results in a moving and sometimes shocking story. I really liked the complexity of it and loved the way Antonia Hayes challenges her readers. Relativity is a refreshing debut by an author who clearly has a lot of talent.
    • 3/5
      Based on a copy from NetGalley.

      I remember enjoying this one at the time I read it, but the basics are all that have stayed with me. It was a good, and I think beautiful story. And that cover is pretty awesome.

    Book preview

    Relativity - Antonia Hayes

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