What do you think?
Rate this book
Wonder: a Novel
Have a Caltech professor and his dying mother uncovered the secrets of the mind…and the universe?
Tom Flaherty's mother is suffering from a strange form of dementia that causes her to journey back in time; especially when she's housecleaning and finds personal items that trigger her memory. But Maude Flaherty's travels—from the Scopes Monkey trial in 1925 to the 1936 Berlin Olympics to Civil Rights March on Washington in 1963—might be the evidence Tom needs as a Caltech physicist to develop a unified theory of space, time, and place—String Theory—and reconnect with a society he's lost touch with since the estrangement from his sister and the loss of his partner many years before.
Tom Flaherty's mother is suffering from a strange form of dementia that causes her to journey back in time; especially when she's housecleaning and finds personal items that trigger her memory. But Maude Flaherty's travels—from the Scopes Monkey trial in 1925 to the 1936 Berlin Olympics to Civil Rights March on Washington in 1963—might be the evidence Tom needs as a Caltech physicist to develop a unified theory of space, time, and place—String Theory—and reconnect with a society he's lost touch with since the estrangement from his sister and the loss of his partner many years before.
- GenresGay Fiction
278 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 15, 2011
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 5, 2019
After re-reading this marvelous novel from 2007, I'm surprised I hadn't reviewed it back then. Was I even reviewing books then? Was there a GoodReads then? Did I have an inkling that many of the book's themes would soon come into my own life? The concept of time and space, explored by Tom, a science professor, and through the memories of Maude, his aged mother, whose variation of dementia parallels his own doubts about string theory, make for a beautiful poetic comparison.
As she rummages through family artifacts, she recalls momentous times in her life with her Olympic skiing friend Anna, but also travels through time and even in prescient sort of out-of-body experiences that defy medical explanation. Tom becomes an unexpectedly popular guest-lecturer while sorting through the loss of his partner, and finds a new community with other gay men at a friend's apartment near his family summer home in a Seattle suburb.
Framed photos and other objects become talismans through their lives, new beginnings are found while decades-old moments come to new clarity for both Tom and Maude. Scenes, nature, ideas and settings are all given fine detail, and the sheer empathy of their broken lives repaired will leave you misty-eyed and with hope. (This is also posted in the original version, titled Housecleaning)
As she rummages through family artifacts, she recalls momentous times in her life with her Olympic skiing friend Anna, but also travels through time and even in prescient sort of out-of-body experiences that defy medical explanation. Tom becomes an unexpectedly popular guest-lecturer while sorting through the loss of his partner, and finds a new community with other gay men at a friend's apartment near his family summer home in a Seattle suburb.
Framed photos and other objects become talismans through their lives, new beginnings are found while decades-old moments come to new clarity for both Tom and Maude. Scenes, nature, ideas and settings are all given fine detail, and the sheer empathy of their broken lives repaired will leave you misty-eyed and with hope. (This is also posted in the original version, titled Housecleaning)
November 23, 2013
Wonder by Dan Boyle is one of the most conceptually captivating books that I’ve read in quite a while. One that engages the reader on a multitude of levels both intellectually and emotionally. In this novel the author marries the subject-matter of quantum physics, namely String Theory, or the Theory of Everything, with the main character’s journey of healing and self-discovery. It is an extremely well written novel in which the author deftly interweaves incredibly complex themes that deal with physical and metaphysical questions of space, time and existence with the emotional complexities of personal loss and family relationships to write a story that at its heart is all about our interconnectedness and the possibilities of the universe.
Read the complete review of Wonder by Dan Boyle at Indie Reviews.
Read the complete review of Wonder by Dan Boyle at Indie Reviews.
March 31, 2011
My review is at "Out In Print"
http://blog.outinprint.net/2011/03/30...
http://blog.outinprint.net/2011/03/30...
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews