Elizabeth Rosner's debut novel, THE SPEED OF LIGHT, heralds a
unique and beautiful new literary voice. The story of three young
people haunted by the violence and sadness of the past, this novel
is engaging and lyrical, despite the dark and bloody secrets it
contains.

Julian and Paula Perel grew up in the shadow of the Holocaust.
Their father, a Hungarian survivor of Auschwitz, was --- for the
most part --- silent about the horrors he experienced and how he
survived. In America, he began a career and created a family. His
personal history was mysterious but obviously brutal, as obvious
and brutal as the faded blue numbers on his arm.

Julian and Paula each had a very different type of relationship
with their father. And they each innately interpret and express
their father's past and pain in very different ways. Julian, like
his father, seeks solace in science. He is a solitary and eccentric
figure, living in an apartment above the one belonging to his
sister, with eleven televisions and a rigid routine. Overly
sensitive to his environment, Julian relies on Paula both
emotionally and physically. Paula, instead of living in near
silence and stillness like Julian and her father, fills the Perel
house with music. In her own way Paula seeks order. A gifted
classically trained opera singer, Paula, from a young age, trained
vigorously, even living for years with her voice coach as a
teenager. When she leaves for Europe for a string of auditions, her
brother is left virtually alone.

Enter Sola Luz. Sola, a beautiful Latin American refugee, is
Paula's housekeeper. Paula arranges for Sola to stay in her
apartment for one month to keep an eye on Julian while she is
abroad. Sola is relieved to be out of her own small, dark apartment
for a while and is certainly curious about and intrigued by Julian.
Sola, like Julian and Paula's father, witnessed mass murder, the
destruction of her village and the loss of her family. She has
carried the tragedy with her for a long time, never fully sharing
her pain.

Now these three --- Julian, Paula and Sola --- in six weeks time
must each face the sadness and destruction in their pasts and come
to terms with it, with each other and with themselves. For Paula,
the catalyst for catharsis is a trip to Hungary and the discovery
of her family's history of music and her father's deepest secret.
For Julian and Sola, their growing friendship and spiritual
connection cause each to step beyond their self-imposed emotional
and physical boundaries to begin to heal past hurts.

While THE SPEED OF LIGHT is undeniably a well-written novel, it
swings frantically --- sometimes paragraph to paragraph --- between
the voices of the three protagonists, so it is a bit of a
challenging read. This jagged pace is alternately frustrating and
entrancing. If the reader can abide the choppiness, a wonderful and
poignant novel is the reward.

From the first pages of this fairly short book, Rosner packs an
emotional punch. Often heartbreaking but always hopeful, THE SPEED
OF LIGHT is less about the sorrows of the past and more about
healing through sharing. Julian, Paula and Sola are all damaged by
circumstances beyond their control. Each is burdened with a load
too heavy to shoulder alone and find that by giving voice to
sadness, loneliness, fear and loss, they can begin to recover and
move towards happiness. Rosner presents the reader with three
characters, stronger than they themselves know, at a moment of
upheaval. This upheaval allows for profound transformation. The
transformative journeys in THE SPEED OF LIGHT make an elegant and
overwhelmingly worthwhile read.