Budapest, 1938. In a city park, five young Jewish mathematicians gather to share ideas, trade proofs and whisper sedition.
Sydney, 2007. Illy has just buried her father, a violent, unpredictable man whose bitterness she never understood. And now Illy’s mother has gifted her a curious notebook, its pages a mix of personal story and mathematical discovery recounted by a young woman full of hopes and regrets.
‘A fascinating, compelling, beautifully written novel.’ Liane Moriarty
‘Miriam Sved has woven three generations and two periods of history into a page-turning, emotional rollercoaster to remind us all that families are messy, complicated and that the repercussions of decisions made decades ago can come back to haunt you… I cannot recommend this book highly enough.’ Heather Morris
A Universe of Sufficient Size is out now with Picador. Read more or purchase here.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE COLIN RODERICK AWARD
Praise for A Universe of Sufficient Size
‘This tale of five young student mathematicians in pre-war Budapest is one of the most convincing and impressive novels about the life of the mind that I have ever seen written in Australia. Its immediate concerns are gripping and dramatic, for the year is 1938 and the five friends are Jewish. And only one of them, it seems, can see clearly what is coming. The story toggles between the Hungary of 1938 and the Sydney of 2007, where one of the five, now an old woman, has just been widowed and has moved in with her only daughter. But then the only other surviving member of the group, a brilliant and now internationally famous mathematician, comes on a university visit and the friends are reunited for the first time in more than 50 years. This is a novel about youth and maths: about friendship, family, hopeless love, intellectual passions, and the long, long shadow of World War II.’
Kerryn Goldsworthy in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald
‘A Universe of Sufficient Size is plotted with the precision of a complex Venn diagram, with overlapping identities, intersecting storylines, narrative arcs, and psychological circles that eventually resolve themselves into a poignant and breathtaking denouement.’
Mandy Sayer in The Australian
‘If ever there is a novel you should not miss, this is it. 5 stars’
Erich Meyer in ArtsHub
© Miriam Sved