JUNE 2019 - AudioFile
Cassandra Campbell narrates so well that even math-phobes will stay with this story of Katherine, a prodigy who is on a heroic quest to find her place in the male-dominated field of mathematics. In the 1960s, Katherine is one of few female graduate students in mathematics at MIT. The men in her department either ignore what she says or sense her genius and take advantage of her. Campbell completely captivates as Katherine struggles with rampant misogyny. She makes us feel Katherine’s determination to follow the road less traveled, drawing comfort from the women who came before her. Chung writes a tidy story filled with complex math puzzles, and Campbell’s expert performance solves them. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
From the Publisher
The cliché that boys are better at math collapses before the diamond-hard mind of a grad student whose relentless attempt to prove a legendary hypothesis exposes a deeper algorithm about herself.... Captivating.” — O, the Oprah Magazine
“Tackles questions of identity, betrayal, ambition and loneliness.... Distinctive... An absorbing summer read.” — New York Times Book Review
“Can a mathematician also be an accomplished storyteller? The answer is an emphatic yes.... Elegant and absorbing fiction....Her work radiates a love of the subject....Her real subject, beyond the magic of storytelling, is the problem of identity, as shaped by gender, ethnicity, history and choice.” — Chicago Tribune
“This shimmering, gorgeous book grapples with the secrets in the world around us, and the one within us; Chung’s prose is electric, and this story is a provocative exploration of the puzzles that most need interrogating.” — Nylon Magazine
“Need a metaphor for the unassailable tangle of the self? The Riemann Hypothesis, one of the great unsolved mathematical problems, does nicely in this novel. About 50 years ago, mathematician Katherine was attempting to unpick its knot, and at the same time deal with revelations about her own family heritage.” — Elle
“The Tenth Muse centers on Katherine, an aspiring mathematician whose studies take her deep into her family history, and a legacy of genius and empowerment which probes compelling questions about her identity.” — Entertainment Weekly
“An interrogation of truth and its value — of secrets, sacrifice, and identity.” — Buzzfeed
“Themes of one’s legacy, breakthroughs, and identity is woven throughout Catherine Chung’s latest novel about a mathematician facing down her generation’s most difficult, unsolved theorum, digging into intentionally buried research during WWII to blaze her own path and become a name mentioned in history books.” — Thrillist
“Chung masterfully subverts our expectations... Endlessly thrilling. An exquisite story of legacy, selfhood, survival, and integrity... The Tenth Muse is an inspiring tour de force of STEAM proportions: a riveting intersection of mathematics and art.” — The Rumpus
“A powerful and virtuosically researched story about the mysteries of the head and the heart.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Chung’s impressive, poignant second novel (after Forgotten Country) explores the intersections of intellectual and familial legacies.... Chung persuasively interweaves myths and legends with the real-world stories of lesser-known women mathematicians and of WWII.... Chung’s novel boldly illustrates that truth and beauty can reside even amid the messiest solutions.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“The Tenth Muse champions female intellectual independence while uncovering sacrifices made to acquire it.... Powerful.” — Shelf Awareness (starred review)
“Mathematics and its history, the legacy of WWII, and the struggles women face in pursuing academic success, especially in fields dominated by men, are woven into this novel that Chung (Forgotten Country, 2012) renders in polished prose.” — Booklist
“Chung’s development of key characters is strong, her light prose flows easily throughout, and she successfully represents a young woman attempting to find her identity and stand out in a field dominated by men.... Engaging.” — Library Journal
“Bountiful in scope, fables, intellect, and heart, the novel is at times heart-wrenching.” — Christian Science Monitor
“The Tenth Muse will shake your views on female success.... Here is a novel that is so real it hurts at times.... It brings the reader on the bumpy hard path of truth and sacrifice, blood ties and betrayal, human injustice and forgiveness.” — New York Journal of Books
“The Tenth Muse is as ambitious and intriguing as the complex math problems Katherine, the protagonist of this remarkable novel, aims to solve. In this novel—the scope of which is staggering—Chung has crafted a story that is moving, elegant, and richly written.” — Roxane Gay, author of Hunger
“A deft, spellbinding emotional puzzle-box of a book, rich and intricately layered. The Tenth Muse slowly, carefully builds to turn your every expectation on its head, and reading it feels like a glimpse of what mathematics might be in the eyes of its ablest practitioners—both secret and sublime.” — Téa Obreht, author of The Tiger’s Wife
“A page-turning intellectual thriller, a family romance, an alternative history of twentieth-century math—I couldn’t put it down.” — Elif Batuman, author of The Idiot
“Ambitious, mesmerizing, and immersive, The Tenth Muse gives us a character we’d follow anywhere, and journeys well worth following her on. This novel dazzles.” — Rebecca Makkai, author of The Great Believers
“Arresting in scope and its treatment of time, its prose at turns crystalline and richly balletic, this story pulls puzzle from puzzle – human, historical, and all too contemporary.” — Helen Oyeyemi, author of Gingerbread
“Catherine Chung’s gorgeous novel, The Tenth Muse, about mathematics and identity, and the cost of being a talented and ambitious woman in a world preoccupied with male success, rushed over me like a wave and carried me out to sea where, pleasantly, I drowned.” — Manuel Gonzales, author of The Regional Office Is Under Attack!
“The Tenth Muse is a must-read. This beautiful, captivating novel has it all: A riveting family secret; a heroine ahead of her time; and a brilliant historical narrative that sheds light on the way we live now.” — J. Courtney Sullivan, author of Saints for All Occasions
“The Tenth Muse gives life to the story of brilliant Katherine, whose exceptional gift for seeing the patterns in numbers leads her to dramatic and heartbreaking discoveries, even as they lead to understanding and wisdom about her own existence. This is a passionate and beautiful book.” — Alice Elliott Dark, author of In the Gloaming
“A profound feminist contemplation upon the ways in which societies everywhere privilege male over female lives, and male creativity preys on female ingenuity.... The Tenth Muse is a thoroughly original take on history from a woman’s perspective and could not be timelier.” — Historical Novels Review
The Rumpus
Chung masterfully subverts our expectations... Endlessly thrilling. An exquisite story of legacy, selfhood, survival, and integrity... The Tenth Muse is an inspiring tour de force of STEAM proportions: a riveting intersection of mathematics and art.
Entertainment Weekly
The Tenth Muse centers on Katherine, an aspiring mathematician whose studies take her deep into her family history, and a legacy of genius and empowerment which probes compelling questions about her identity.
Chicago Tribune
Can a mathematician also be an accomplished storyteller? The answer is an emphatic yes.... Elegant and absorbing fiction....Her work radiates a love of the subject....Her real subject, beyond the magic of storytelling, is the problem of identity, as shaped by gender, ethnicity, history and choice.
New York Times Book Review
Tackles questions of identity, betrayal, ambition and loneliness.... Distinctive... An absorbing summer read.
Nylon Magazine
This shimmering, gorgeous book grapples with the secrets in the world around us, and the one within us; Chung’s prose is electric, and this story is a provocative exploration of the puzzles that most need interrogating.
the Oprah Magazine O
The cliché that boys are better at math collapses before the diamond-hard mind of a grad student whose relentless attempt to prove a legendary hypothesis exposes a deeper algorithm about herself.... Captivating.
Elle
Need a metaphor for the unassailable tangle of the self? The Riemann Hypothesis, one of the great unsolved mathematical problems, does nicely in this novel. About 50 years ago, mathematician Katherine was attempting to unpick its knot, and at the same time deal with revelations about her own family heritage.
Thrillist
Themes of one’s legacy, breakthroughs, and identity is woven throughout Catherine Chung’s latest novel about a mathematician facing down her generation’s most difficult, unsolved theorum, digging into intentionally buried research during WWII to blaze her own path and become a name mentioned in history books.
Buzzfeed
An interrogation of truth and its value — of secrets, sacrifice, and identity.
Téa Obreht
A deft, spellbinding emotional puzzle-box of a book, rich and intricately layered. The Tenth Muse slowly, carefully builds to turn your every expectation on its head, and reading it feels like a glimpse of what mathematics might be in the eyes of its ablest practitioners—both secret and sublime.
Elif Batuman
A page-turning intellectual thriller, a family romance, an alternative history of twentieth-century math—I couldn’t put it down.
Rebecca Makkai
Ambitious, mesmerizing, and immersive, The Tenth Muse gives us a character we’d follow anywhere, and journeys well worth following her on. This novel dazzles.
Christian Science Monitor
Bountiful in scope, fables, intellect, and heart, the novel is at times heart-wrenching.
Roxane Gay
The Tenth Muse is as ambitious and intriguing as the complex math problems Katherine, the protagonist of this remarkable novel, aims to solve. In this novel—the scope of which is staggering—Chung has crafted a story that is moving, elegant, and richly written.
Helen Oyeyemi
Arresting in scope and its treatment of time, its prose at turns crystalline and richly balletic, this story pulls puzzle from puzzle – human, historical, and all too contemporary.”
Shelf Awareness (starred review)
The Tenth Muse champions female intellectual independence while uncovering sacrifices made to acquire it.... Powerful.
New York Journal of Books
“The Tenth Muse will shake your views on female success.... Here is a novel that is so real it hurts at times.... It brings the reader on the bumpy hard path of truth and sacrifice, blood ties and betrayal, human injustice and forgiveness.
Manuel Gonzales
Catherine Chung’s gorgeous novel, The Tenth Muse, about mathematics and identity, and the cost of being a talented and ambitious woman in a world preoccupied with male success, rushed over me like a wave and carried me out to sea where, pleasantly, I drowned.
Booklist
Mathematics and its history, the legacy of WWII, and the struggles women face in pursuing academic success, especially in fields dominated by men, are woven into this novel that Chung (Forgotten Country, 2012) renders in polished prose.
Alice Elliott Dark
The Tenth Muse gives life to the story of brilliant Katherine, whose exceptional gift for seeing the patterns in numbers leads her to dramatic and heartbreaking discoveries, even as they lead to understanding and wisdom about her own existence. This is a passionate and beautiful book.”
Historical Novels Review
A profound feminist contemplation upon the ways in which societies everywhere privilege male over female lives, and male creativity preys on female ingenuity.... The Tenth Muse is a thoroughly original take on history from a woman’s perspective and could not be timelier.
J. Courtney Sullivan
The Tenth Muse is a must-read. This beautiful, captivating novel has it all: A riveting family secret; a heroine ahead of her time; and a brilliant historical narrative that sheds light on the way we live now.
Booklist
Mathematics and its history, the legacy of WWII, and the struggles women face in pursuing academic success, especially in fields dominated by men, are woven into this novel that Chung (Forgotten Country, 2012) renders in polished prose.
Chicago Tribune
Can a mathematician also be an accomplished storyteller? The answer is an emphatic yes.... Elegant and absorbing fiction....Her work radiates a love of the subject....Her real subject, beyond the magic of storytelling, is the problem of identity, as shaped by gender, ethnicity, history and choice.
O: the Oprah Magazine
The cliché that boys are better at math collapses before the diamond-hard mind of a grad student whose relentless attempt to prove a legendary hypothesis exposes a deeper algorithm about herself.... Captivating.
Tea Obreht
A deft, spellbinding emotional puzzle-box of a book, rich and intricately layered. The Tenth Muse slowly, carefully builds to turn your every expectation on its head, and reading it feels like a glimpse of what mathematics might be in the eyes of its ablest practitioners—both secret and sublime.
JUNE 2019 - AudioFile
Cassandra Campbell narrates so well that even math-phobes will stay with this story of Katherine, a prodigy who is on a heroic quest to find her place in the male-dominated field of mathematics. In the 1960s, Katherine is one of few female graduate students in mathematics at MIT. The men in her department either ignore what she says or sense her genius and take advantage of her. Campbell completely captivates as Katherine struggles with rampant misogyny. She makes us feel Katherine’s determination to follow the road less traveled, drawing comfort from the women who came before her. Chung writes a tidy story filled with complex math puzzles, and Campbell’s expert performance solves them. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
