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Nedda Papas lives in Florida in 1986, near Cape Canaveral. At 11, she knows everything about the space missions. She idolizes the astronauts and longs to go to space herself. Her brilliant father used to work for NASA, but after layoffs, he now works at a small college, and in his time not spent teaching he is building a machine that can keep running and powering things forever (such as an engine) —and that by its very nature could also slow down or speed up time.
Decades later, Nedda gets to live her dream of going to space: She and three other astronauts are on a ship called the Chawla, which is taking them to a new planet. They are pioneers in leaving Earth to find other places for civilization to live, with Earth experiencing the drastic effects of climate change.
The story goes back and forth between Nedda’s life as an adult on the Chawla and her young life in Florida. Her father succeeds in getting his machine to work —and it causes a huge disruption in time for her and the other inhabitants of the small town of Easter, Florida. The details of what happens are slowly revealed over the course of the book. The incident happens right after the tragedy of the Challenger disintegrating in the sky after launch. What Nedda goes through and learns as an 11-year-old ends up being the key to helping her work through a dangerous situation in her space travels when she’s older.
Light from Other Stars is full of science references, but while it’s “about” time and light and space, it’s more truly “about” family. About friendship and love. About how love can transcend space and time.
Given that I grew up in the space shuttle era, when space seemed ever more accessible because of these new plane-like vehicles and the possibilities, the hope and excitement, they opened up, I was drawn to this story. I loved the space shuttles; I vividly remember sitting in a high school cafeteria and watching the launch and demise of the Challenger and its seven astronauts. I was thrilled and moved almost to tears when I was able to see in person the decommissioned Endeavour at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. I enjoy learning about science and I appreciated the possibilities explored in Light from Other Stars. But the beauty of the book is most at its heart, where Nedda considers her imperfect parents and her love for them, where she considers the sweet friendship she has with a young man named Denny, who is affected as well by the incident caused by the machine. She comes to understand her father and mother better and what drove them to act in certain ways. She has opportunities to begin to find peace even after experiences and revelations that affect her deeply.
This is a lovely book and I now want to read Erika Swyler’s previous novel.
Rated: High. There are roughly 25 to 30 instances of strong language and more uses of moderate language. There are no sexual references. Violence is minimal. There are references to one instance of a father hitting his son in the face, causing a black eye.
*I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
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