The Professor of LightMegan adores her father, a charming, befuddled professor of philosophy from Guyana whose lifetime pursuit is to resolve the dual nature of light as particle and wave. To further his obsessive quest, the professor trains his daughter in Socratic reasoning and the principles of physics. Even as a child, she organizes his notes, types his theories, and engages him in debates. At the root of their intense father-daughter bond is the legacy of Indian-Caribbean storytelling he passes on. She drinks in the obeah tales and myths, the stories that illuminate the lost history of her family that scattered over many continents and cultures. And so Megan absorbs her past, while struggling to remain afloat between the undertow of family and the riptide of the larger world. As she nears adulthood, Megan's relationship with her father grows more ominous as he is overtaken by a haunting past and a fear that Megan, like all children, will one day eclipse him. Each time she tries to step outside his world of ideas and old stories, she is pulled back in. All the while, the professor descends deeper into madness and Megan must choose how far her devotion will take her. A novel of logic, passion, and cultural lore, The Professor of Light gets at the heart of what it means to grow up and to grow apart. |
