In Universes
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- ¥1,200
発行者による作品情報
'An explosion of creative beauty and heart . . . a massively talented writer arriving ready to awe' NANA KWAME ADJEI-BRENYAH, author of CHAIN-GANG ALL-STARS
'Dazzling and inventive . . . a breathtaking introduction to a brilliant new voice' DANIELLE EVANS, author of THE OFFICE OF HISTORICAL CORRECTIONS
'A soul-stirring debut' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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Raffi is a physicist who spends their days removing stars from pictures of the night sky, dreaming about parallel universes. In this one, they’re falling for a queer sculptor named Britt who they almost met when they were kids – if only they’d had the courage to say hello.
What if Raffi had said hello? The question catapults Raffi across alternate universes, each an answer to the question of what their life might be like if things had happened just a little differently.
Each universe is beautiful and dangerous for Raffi. Where apocalyptic landscapes teem with bears, mothers fracture into hordes of animals, and glistening sandcastles stand tall enough to live inside. Across them all, Raffi searches for a life that feels their own. But everything eventually leads them back to Britt: the girl they loved and lost.
IN UNIVERSES is a kaleidoscopic and tender navigation of love, queerness and belonging that bursts with imagination and hope.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
North beguiles with a soul-stirring debut following a scientist named Raffi as they travel the multiverse in search of the woman they love. Raffi is studying dark matter when they reconnect with Britt, an artist. The two grew up together, but never became friends because Raffi was too shy. Inspired by the happiness they now feel with Britt and driven by an interest in the possibility of branching universes, they quit their job to study theories of parallel worlds in search of a universe where they had the courage to speak to Britt at 13. Each chapter portrays a new parallel world as Raffi's consciousness slips between them, encountering new versions of their friends, forbidden loves, romantic partners, and even complete strangers. In the different universes, Raffi is variously a scientist, a professor, an artist, and a restaurant worker. Some chapters employ speculative elements, while others feel hauntingly real. Each convey a poetic sensibility ("There are some things in the universe you can only find by looking away from them," a lab professor tells Raffi, as they grapple with their unrealized desire for a world where things can go right with Britt). This crackling chronicle of queer love is a must read. Agents: Hafizah Geter and PJ Mark, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc.
