Book Description Review “With artful storytelling and emotional insightfulness, The Schrödinger Girl engages us in the ultimate mysteries confronting humans: those locked up in physical reality, in the interiority of others, and in one’s own perplexed and longing heart.”–Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction“Laurel Brett takes us on a trip down those foggy ruins of time to unlock the secrets and mysteries of the human heart and discover why we love and how we love. The voice here is distinctive and authentic, and we find ourselves back in that era of magic and change. This is vibrant and engaging storytelling.”–William McKeen, author of Outlaw Journalist: The Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson Read more About the Author Laurel Brett, a refugee from the 1960s, was born in Manhattan in the middle of the last century. Her passionate interest in the arts and social justice led her to a PhD and a long career as a community college professor. She expanded her award-winning dissertation on Thomas Pynchon’s work into a groundbreaking analysis, Disquiet on the Western Front: World War II and Postmodern Fiction, which was published by Cambridge Scholars. She lives in Port Jefferson, New York. Read more Customers Review: SG is a journey into the rapidly evolving world of the ’60’s is literally a “trip.” This colorful novel uses time, place and history to create a personal story of a man’s journey towards fulfillment through a mythical, scientific adventure using the experience of alternate versions of the one young woman. Is he sane or mad? That question will keep you up at night until it’s satisfying conclusion. Brett’s ability to write in first person “male” is quite impressive, as she appears to understand the way a man’s mind works, especially when it comes to figuring out the mysteries of the more complicated psyches of the surrounding females.
It is not often that you find a book so intriguing that challenges your sense of reality, enveloping you in the world of its characters, while engaging you to unravel a metaphysical mystery. I loved how this book made me think about the possibilities of parallel existence.
Very unique novel. Extremely well written and provocative.
First business. I received this book as an Advanced Reader Copy from librarything.com in return for an unbiased review. And I’m glad I did. I absolutely love this book.The story takes place in the later 1960s (from about 1967 to 1969). As it turns out, I was in high school in those years, as is Daphne, one of the main characters. Daphne is 16, cute, with a head of flaming red hair. She’s also wearing a yellow rain slicker when we first meet her. Seems like a person hard to miss.Our other main character is Garrett Adams, a 35-year-old psychology professor at a small school in upstate New Your conducting listless experiments on rats. One day he realizes that his research is going nowhere and he has no idea how to get it back on track. He’d had all is work with him in the city doing research and another university library when this conclusion overwhelmed him. He took all his research, data, charts, graphs, and photos and threw them into a city trashcan. I’m not sure what happened to the rats.Garrett wonders into an NYC bookstore and decides to peruse the physics section, long an interest to him. He picks up a book with 2 Egyptian cats representing Schrodinger’s cat experiments on the cover. He loves the book. He makes an unusual random decision to buy a copy of the book for the next person who picks one up. It turns out to be Daphne.Daphne becomes his Schrodinger girl. After a second meeting he takes her to an art gallery. Garrett knew the manager (Caroline, an old flame of his) and wanted to say hello. The gallery had a new display by a prominent local artist. Included in the new work is a large water color of a nude young girl. There is no mistaking it, the painting is of Daphne. Daphne, embarrassed, says it can’t be her, and runs out of the gallery and into the night.This bit of weirdness manages to light a new spark between Garrett and Caroline and they begin to date and become lovers once again. One thorn in the side of this relationship is Daphne. Garrick has no romantic interest in her (she’s only 16 he protests), but over the next few months of infrequent meetings with her he becomes convinced that there isn’t just one Daphne, but maybe as many as 4, each exhibiting a different personality. He builds an elaborate timeline on his study wall, which pretty much freaks out Caroline when she first sees it.Garrett’s only real friend is Jerry, a clinical psychologist. Jerry, who has problems of his own, things Garrett is going crazy. How can there be 4 manifestations of the same girl and only Garrett can see them? Several attempts to get 2 of the Daphnes together are unsuccessful. He clings to scant proof such as a post card from Daphne in Italy arriving the same day he spoke to her on the phone.The book is really about Garrett finally coming to terms with the world around him. He’s been basically on hold for the past 15 years since his wife had a stillborn birth. The Daphne’s represent different aspects of 1960s American culture, bringing Garrett into each, whether it be music (lots of Beatles lyrics), anti-war protesting or drug use each Daphne is a hook into this exciting new world.The handling of Garrett’s growth, the mystery of the Daphnes, the growing affair with Caroline are all handled well.I’ve read plenty of books which I liked until the ending. I really couldn’t conceive of an ending which would work for me. Which is why I don’t try to write novels for a living. But let me say that Laurel Brett really stuck the landing. I was completely happy with the ending, especially the little twist she threw in.I’d warn you that if the title “The Schrodinger Girl” doesn’t say something to you about the possible impermanence of reality this may not be the book for you. If you know the term Schrodinger as something math and physics related, don’t let that scare you away. Math and physics are mentioned but there are no equations. It you think this may be a romp through alternate dimensions (as I thought) you might be disappointed, but I wasn’t disappointed.
The Schrödinger Girl by Laurel BrettSet in 1960’s New York, Garrett Adams is a behavioral psychologist. He is dealing with the loss of his Father, a strained friendship with his long time friend Jerry and is in a new relationship with Caroline. He meets a mysterious young lady (Daphne) in a book store, as they both are reaching for the same book. Things begin to change when it appears (to him that) Daphne may exist in separate realities. This becomes an obsession for him as it challenges everything he believes in.A fast paced original story, emotionally and psychologically charged. Garrett has personal struggles to overcome, as well as the newfound possibility of more than one Daphne. Combining psychology with physics was fascinating and kept me at the edge of my seat. Add the 1960’s setting, songs and politics from the era was a refreshing “blast from the past”. I was hooked from the first page up until the end. A true five star read. Highly recommend to all.
Full disclosure: Laurel and I became friends in the early 1980s while earning our English PhDs at Stony Brook. Indeed, we readers do visit Stony Brook in this novel. And we hear the Beatles every few pages. Having graduated from high school in 1964, I constantly heard snippets of the Beatles from “I Want to Hold Your Hand” in February of that year, through Sgt Pepper in 1967, up to and past “Let It Be” on the roof. And of course today and yesterday. So, on those two nostalgic levels, I loved living through this book.Deeper: at its center lies a dizzying possibility from the crazy dreams of quantum physics. What if a person who had split into multiple universes somehow remained in this universe? The narrator’s baffled mind spins out into such impossible questions. As in humanity’s explorations of the globe and of outer space, the small consciousness that we used to live in becomes larger and larger, approaching what seems near-infinity.For a couple of weeks, Laurel’s book took its turn among my piles of books that received rave reviews (best novels of 2019, etc.); it stands worthy in such company. Elegantly written and boldly evocative, _The Schrodinger Girl_ rewards and delights our attention.
When it comes to relationships, sorting truth from fiction is hard enough. Now multiply that times four and you have Laurel Brett’s engaging novel The Schrödinger Girl. Garret Adams who describes himself as not into the sixties, unwilling to make up his mind about the Vietnam War, and a little nostalgic for the “neatness” of the fifties needs a shakeup. He is about to get at least one or two (or more) upheavals. Enter an unkempt-around-the-edges teenage girl with an interest in physics and he finds his something outside his constricted social sphere to care about deeply—obsessively. Brett kept me guessing in this non-romantic love story. Until the last paragraphs, I honestly did not know where Garret’s whole series of nested worlds were going to land. |
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