cover image Leaning Toward Infinity

Leaning Toward Infinity

Sue Woolfe. Faber & Faber, $24.95 (420pp) ISBN 978-0-571-19905-1

Beautiful, inventive writing distinguishes Woolfe's American debut (the novel has topped bestseller lists in her native Australia for over a year). This is an unflinching exploration of the complex bond of love--and the pain of selfishness and longing--experienced by three generations of mothers and daughters in a family touched by mathematical genius. When the nuns at Juanita Fernandez's convent school discover Juanita's brilliance with sums, her mother quickly puts her to work predicting gambling odds. To escape this emotionally and intellectually stifling life, the lovely and practical Juanita marries the first man who woos her, a dreamy, unsophisticated carpenter who can count no higher than 10. They suffer a loveless marriage defined by Juanita's regret at having given up her search for a revolutionary mathematical theorem to raise children, by her obsession that her son, Matti, will complete her equation and by her slow descent into madness. In the end, it is Frances, Juanita's lonely and alienated daughter, who inherits her genius, finishes her work and brings some measure of harmony to the family. The story is told by Hypatia, Frances's own daughter, through her mother's eyes, as well as through Hypatia's letters and Juanita's journal. Woolfe's writing is charming and lyrical, punctuated by a sharp eye for detail. Even though her narrative is repetitive and confusing at times, it is also complex and layered, revealing its meaning only slowly. (Mar.)