海角大神

If you鈥檙e looking for an unusual love story that spans decades, that feels modern but has an old-fashioned heart, then Madeleine Henry has written a book for you. 鈥淭he Love Proof鈥� is no ordinary romance novel. Although it unabashedly embraces sincerity and kindness, Henry鈥檚 writing also contains intellectual as well as emotional heft. Her first novel, 鈥淏reathe In, Cash Out,鈥� was a romantic satire set on Wall Street, where she once worked as an investment banker. But in 鈥淭he Love Proof,鈥� she takes a very different tone as she tests 鈥� with unique and surprising depth 鈥� what it means to follow one鈥檚 heart.

Sophie Jones is a delightful conundrum of a character. Her parents discover early on that their introverted child is a brilliant math prodigy and, indeed, Sophie blossoms into a famous physicist even before arriving at Yale University. She鈥檚 pegged as the next Einstein, and renowned mathematicians predict that 鈥渟he would be the one to answer humanity鈥檚 legendary questions about space and time within the decade.鈥�

Jake Kristopher faced more difficult circumstances on his path to Yale. 鈥淗e read SAT prep books as if they were maps showing the path out of jail,鈥� writes Henry. His passion is finance 鈥� until he meets Sophie, when a connection ignites during their first conversation, and the two feel as though they鈥檝e known each other forever. The connection places them in 鈥渁 world of their own where time passed at a different rate, maybe not at all.鈥�

This love changes them both. 鈥淭he best [Sophie] could describe it ... was that her energy had shifted down from her head and into her heart. She was on another wavelength: genuinely content,鈥� writes Henry. But Jake is haunted by guilt as Sophie loses interest in reaching her full academic potential. 鈥淪he had the same passion, the same intellect; they just weren鈥檛 fueling a goal,鈥� he worries. 鈥淗e鈥檇 always loved her mind, but her lack of ego was keeping her from using it.鈥澛�

When Sophie suffers personal loss, physics becomes an avenue for her to scientifically prove that love profoundly impacts human existence. 鈥淏lock theory claimed that all events in the past, present, and future existed at once, frozen in a 鈥榖lock鈥� of space-time,鈥� writes Henry. 鈥淓verything that had happened or would happen was actually occurring now. The theory was perfectly captured in Einstein鈥檚 words, 鈥楩or us believing physicists, the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.鈥欌��

There鈥檚 a metaphysical side to Sophie鈥檚 intellectual search for meaning 鈥� a feeling that underpins the entirety of the novel. Rumi, one of Sophie鈥檚 favorite poets, sums it up precisely: 鈥淕oodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes. Because for those who love with heart and soul there is no such thing as separation.鈥�

鈥淭he Love Proof鈥� is a literary journey in which time is filled with meaning, purpose, and caring. Through the arc of Sophie and Jake鈥檚 romance, Henry demonstrates that the expression of love is the most important undertaking.