The Speed of Light by Elizabeth Rosner

The Speed of Light by Elizabeth Rosner

Every family has a story. Every story, eventually, must be told.

For most of their lives, Julian Perel and his sister, Paula, lived in a house cast in silence, witnesses to a father struggling with a devastating secret too painful to share. Though their father took his demons to the grave, his past refuses to rest.

As adults, brother and sister struggle to find their voices. A scientist governed by numbers and logic, Julian now lives an ordered life of routine and seclusion. My father gave up his language and his homeland. But he carried his sadness with him, under his skin. It was mine now. In contrast, Paula has entered the world as eagerly as Julian retracts from it. An aspiring opera singer, she is always moving, buoyant with sound. Singing was the only gift I could offer to my father. I filled the house with music. I tried to give him joy. . . .

Yet both their lives begin to change on a Wednesday, miercoles, the day that sounds like miracles. Before embarking on a European opera tour, Paula asks her housekeeper, Sola, to stay at her place--and to look after Julian in the apartment above. Yet Sola, too, has a story. I want to clean myself like the window of a house, make myself clear for things to pass through. Flat and quiet.

As Paula uncovers pieces of her father's early life in Budapest and the horrifying truth of his past, Julian bears witness to Sola's story--revelations that help all three learn how to both surrender and revere the shadows that have followed them for so long.

The Speed of Light is a powerful debut about three unforgettable souls who overcome the tragedies of the past to reconnect with one another and the world around them. In an extraordinary accomplishment, Elizabeth Rosner has created a novel of love and redemption that proves the pain of the untold story is far greater than even the most difficult truth.

The Speed of Light, written by Elizabeth Rosner, has been translated into nine languages and won the Harold U. Kellogg Prize. Hadassah Magazine administers the Ribalow Award, which is judged by Elie Wiesel. It was a finalist for the Prix Femina in France and the winner of the Prix France Bleu Gironde. Rosner also won the New Writer's Prize for Fiction from the Great Lakes Colleges in 2002. The San Francisco Chronicle selected her second novel, Blue Nude, a Best Novel of 2006.

The New York Times Magazine, Elle, the Forward, the Huffington Post, and other anthologies have published her pieces. She reviews books for the San Francisco Chronicle and the Los Angeles Review of Books on a regular basis.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780345442253
ISBN 10	0345442253
Title	The Speed of Light
Author	Elizabeth Rosner
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Random House USA Inc
Year published	2003-04-01
Number of pages	272
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.