Lightbreakers - by Aja Gabel (Hardcover)

About the Book

"A luminous novel of love, loss, science, and art, that asks if the past can ever be truly revisited, and at what cost? In the beginning, there was happiness. Maya, an artist obsessed with the nature of beauty, and Noah, a quantum physicist preoccupied by the mysteries of the universe, found in each other a shared curiosity about the world. But beneath the surface of their happy marriage is a third rail: Serena, the lost child that Noah had with his ex-wife, Eileen. One day Noah gets a call from an eccentric billionaire, asking him to participate in a clandestine project aiming to unravel the secrets of time and consciousness. The couple agrees to relocate to the Janus Lab, deep in the desert, where Noah finds himself drawn into a dangerous kind of time travel that could result in seeing Serena again. As Noah delves into this groundbreaking, fringe work, his past begins to overtake him. And when his ex-wife, Eileen, joins the project, Maya embarks on a journey back to her own past, one that takes her to Japan, to her family, and to a formative lover who once shattered her heart. As Noah, Maya, and Eileen grapple with the balance between holding on and letting go, new information emerges that the Janus Lab might not be exactly what it seems. A heart-achingly moving novel, Lightbreakers plumbs the mysteries of human connection, and explores how to love in a world where time is both a healer and a thief"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

Named a Most Anticipated Book by LA Times, LitHub, and Harper's Bazaar

What would you give to relive the past?

Maya, an artist, and Noah, a quantum physicist, share an insatiable curiosity about the world. But their happy marriage has a shadow over it: Serena, the child Noah had with his first wife, who died before she turned four.

When Noah is invited by the Janus Project to unravel the secrets of time travel, he jumps at the opportunity. At a laboratory deep in the Texas desert, he begins participating in a dangerous experiment that could result in something he thought impossible: seeing his daughter again.

Meanwhile, Maya embarks on a journey back to her own past in Japan, and to a formative lover who once shattered her heart. As Noah and Maya grapple with hope and despair, new information emerges that the experiments might not be exactly what they seems.

A heartachingly moving novel, Lightbreakers plumbs the mysteries of human connection, and explores how to love in a world where time is both a healer and a thief.

Review Quotes

"Exists in a category all its own: a novel about grief, ambition, and love that is somehow both gripping and deeply felt, as breath-taking as it is mind-bending. Aja Gabel's prose is like music, vivid with wisdom, curiosity, and emotion." -Rachel Khong, New York Times bestselling author of Real Americans

"Compassionate and prismatic, an intellectual adventure as well as a deeply human meditation on memory, family, and reinvention. Aja Gabel's second novel is my favorite kind: soulful science fiction that speaks to the mind as well as the heart." -Chloe Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Immortalists

"A magisterial and moving novel about love and grief that is somehow unsentimental and yet extraordinarily tender...Lightbreakers is complex, startling, and impossibly alive." -Kevin Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of Nothing to See Here

"A marriage story that twists into a sci-fi thriller, posing questions about the elusiveness of the past and the time-jumping nature of grief. Like walking down a hall of mirrors, mesmerized by its reflections and refractions, reading Lightbreakers made me see things anew." -Ling Ma, author of Severance

"Audaciously tackles life's most formative experiences: love and loss." -Rumaan Alam, New York Times bestselling author of Entitlement

"You will love this genre-busting book. . . A cross of literary fiction and sci-fi, it's also a beautiful meditation of grief, time, and love." -Samin Nosrat, author of Salt Fat Acid Heat

"Satisfying...Gabel hits a winning combination in this tale of modern love and time travel." -Publishers Weekly

"A phenomenal portrait of profound grief." -Booklist, starred review

"Gabel beautifully explores the ways the past echoes endlessly in the present and into the future--and the unimaginable lure of being with the ones we love no matter the cost. A poignant and sharp novel about love, loss, and finding light in the darkness." -Kirkus Reviews

"Absolutely fascinating." -Literary Hub

About the Author

Aja Gabel is the author of the novel The Ensemble. Her prose can be found in The Cut, the Los Angeles Times, Oprah Daily, and elsewhere. Her short story "Little Fish" was adapted into a feature film, and she has written extensively for television. She lives in Los Angeles.