Lost and Wanted

I'm not sure what I expected from this book when I put it on my list to read. Maybe it was the physics part of the book. At any rate, I was a little unsure starting, but it kept my attention through to the end.

I like the author's voice. Freudenberger's writing flows well and the character dialogue sounds natural. I thought the 7 year-old characterization hit the nail on the head. It took a bit, but I eventually made a connection of the mysterious forces of the universe being like the mysterious influences we have on each other. I don't know if that was the author's intent, but it came across to me. The tension in the relationships felt authentic to me, as well.

At the end, I felt discouraged. Maybe I missed a point, but I came away feeling a lack of hope and left with an idea that many of us are looking for something we will never find.

Helen knows everything about physics; Helen knows nothing about human relationships. Not that she hasn't had a few in her life...there's Neel Jonnal, a fellow physicist and a college boyfriend...her young son, Jack, who she conceived after giving up on finding a life partner...and, maybe the strongest and longest relationship of her life, Charlie Boyce, her college roommate. It is only when Charlie dies and Helen begins receiving text messages from her old friend that Helen begins to contemplate the limits of human consciousness.

The story has elements of science fiction and fantasy and mystery and romance, but the real story is about Helen and the bonds she tries to forge with others.

Whew! This book is deeply (DEEPLY) science-y, but, if you are like me and tried to skip science in school, don't let that hold you back from reading this delight of a book.