Ask a Bookseller: ‘Lightbreakers’ by Aja Gabel

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.

Shannon Guinn-Collins of Bookworks in Albuquerque, New Mexico says she's still thinking about the novel "Lightbreakers" by Aja Gabel.

Guinn-Collins recommends this novel for fans of literary time travel, as well as for readers of Jennifer Egan and Emily St. John Mandel.

“Lightbreakers” centers on a married couple: Noah, who is a quantum physicist, and Maya, who is an artist. Shadowing Noah’s life is the loss of his young daughter with his first wife.

So, when Noah is approached by an experimental group that is exploring a form of time travel using memory, he takes the opportunity. As he steps further and further back into his own memories, Maya must grapple with the widening gulf with her husband in the present — and what that means for their future.

Guinn-Collins offers this review:

"The book really centers on themes of loss and longing, love and regret — all of these major human themes. It deals with really fraught, difficult topics, but it does so in a way that's really graceful.

“Aja has a really light touch, and her writing is just gorgeous. The language she uses is really beautiful. It carries you forward in a really natural way. But I still found myself pausing and rereading passages just to enjoy what she was doing. Definitely one of my favorites from last year!”