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“Sara Seager’s exploration of outer and inner space makes for a stunningly original memoir.”—Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone
Sara Seager has always been in love with the stars: so many lights in the sky, so much possibility. Now a pioneering planetary scientist, she searches for exoplanets—especially that distant, elusive world that sustains life. But with the unexpected death of Seager’s husband, the purpose of her own life becomes hard for her to see. Suddenly, at forty, she is a widow and the single mother of two young boys. For the first time, she feels alone in the universe.
As she struggles to navigate her life after loss, Seager takes solace in the alien beauty of exoplanets and the technical challenges of exploration. At the same time, she discovers earthbound connections that feel every bit as wondrous, when strangers and loved ones alike reach out to her across the space of her grief. Among them are the Widows of Concord, a group of women offering advice on everything from home maintenance to dating, and her beloved sons, Max and Alex. Most unexpected of all, there is another kind of one-in-a-billion match, not in the stars but here at home.
Probing and invigoratingly honest, The Smallest Lights in the Universe is its own kind of light in the dark.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
August 18, 2020 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780593148044
- File size: 277364 KB
- Duration: 09:37:50
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Astrophysicist and planetary scientist Sara Seager's poignant memoir of loss and discovery, sensitively narrated by Xe Sands, finds the author embarking upon a new phase in her life after the death of her husband. Listeners share Seager's realization that discoveries and losses--whether related to researching transiting exoplanets, negotiating professional challenges, or dealing with evolving relationships--expand one's understanding of the universe. Sands's attuned performance elicits a range of emotions as Seager navigates family and career while moving through the stages of grief. Sands's tremulous voice, for instance, underscores difficult scenes with the author's father and husband. Seager makes seamless connections, explicit and implied, between astrophysics and the emotional landscape of her memoir. J.R.T. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine -
Starred review from February 24, 2020
Planetary astrophysicist Seager looks back on her life through the lens of her passion for stargazing in this brilliant, emotionally wrought memoir. A socially awkward child, Seager shuttled between divorced parents in 1970s and ’80s Toronto. At age 10 on a camping trip, she discovered the stars—“I stood and stared... a little girl who understood how to navigate... a big city and a broken home, but who now had been given her first glimpse of real mystery.” A canoe trip in 1994 cemented her relationship with fellow outdoor enthusiast Mike, and during her graduate work at Harvard she researched exoplanets. She joined the faculty of MIT in 2006, and married Mike, with whom she had two sons. She received prestigious science awards and was named chair of a key NASA project; but in 2011 Mike was diagnosed with and soon after died from colon cancer. Seager’s fragile balance of career and single motherhood was strengthened by two chance meetings—with a young widow and a fellow stargazer named Charles Darrow. Her life was again reignited with friendship and love, and bolstered when she received the MacArthur Fellowship in 2013. Seager’s openhearted prose is clean and exact, and her observations—“We want to be a light in somebody else’s sky”—illuminate the human drive to connect with others. This wondrous tale of discovery, loss, and love is both expansive intimate.
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