The Speed of Light (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
by Elizabeth Rosner 
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Description
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 show more 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. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
This story of a brother, sister, and a survivor of a south american massacre kept my interest. the author switched the perspective from one character to another constantly and usually after only a few short paragraphs. i was able to know and feel close to all characters and other people mentioned.
A gentle story about loss, grief and redemption. Told in an interesting manner- each character had a different font in the book, though sometimes, the fonts of the two siblings were so similar I had trouble deciding who was speaking. It was Sola who won my heart though- with her delicate phrasing of the English language, and her struggle to help the ghosts of her past rest in peace, unforgotten.
It's a story of wounded souls beautifully told. Elizabeth Rosner is literary talent who weaves words into Louvre-worthy images. A sister pursuing a music career abroad must leave her phobic brother. Both share scars handed down from previous generations. Before she leaves, she hires a housekeeper with fresh scars of her own. It's an easy book to fall in love with.
Thought-provoking. What do you do with true horror, true tragedy? How do you cope and more importantly, how do you thrive?
familie, 2. verdenskrig, søskende,
Jan 18, 2008 (Edited)Danish
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8+ Works 551 Members
Elizabeth Rosner's writing has been translated into nine languages and has won several awards in the United States and in Europe. Her essays and reviews have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Elle, San Francisco Chronicle, and other publications. Learn more at elizabethrosner.com.
Elizabeth Rosner is a LibraryThing Author, an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing.
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- Members
- 239
- Popularity
- 134,466
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (3.63)
- Languages
- Danish, Dutch, English, German
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 8
- ASINs
- 1
