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    The Schrödinger Girl
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    The Schrödinger Girl
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    The Schrödinger Girl
    Ebook355 pages5 hours

    The Schrödinger Girl

    By Laurel Brett

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

  • The Schrodinger Girl is this season's Kaylie Jones Books' release, selected and edited by Kaylie Jones.
  • In addition to promotional help from Kaylie Jones herself, the imprint's numerous authors--Barbara J. Taylor, Laurie Loewenstein, etc.--are key in helping to spread the word on new releases.
  • Kaylie is very active on social media with 5,000 followers on Facebook; the imprint also has an active social media presence.
  • We will submit to B&N's Discover program, Indies Introduce, etc.
    • LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKaylie Jones Books
    Release dateJan 7, 2020
    ISBN9781617757730
    Author

    Laurel Brett

    LAUREL BRETT, a refugee from the 1960s, was born in Manhattan in the middle of the last century. Her passionate interest in the arts and social justice led her to a PhD and a long career as a community college professor. She expanded her award-winning dissertation on Thomas Pynchon’s work into a groundbreaking analysis, Disquiet on the Western Front: World War II and Postmodern Fiction, which was published by Cambridge Scholars. She lives in Port Jefferson, New York. The Schrödinger Girl is her debut novel.

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    Reviews for The Schrödinger Girl

    3.5/5

    28 ratings11 reviews

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    • 5/5
      The Schrödinger Girl by Laurel BrettSet in 1960's New York, Garrett Adams is a behavioral psychologist. He is dealing with the loss of his Father, a strained friendship with his long time friend Jerry and is in a new relationship with Caroline. He meets a mysterious young lady (Daphne) in a book store, as they both are reaching for the same book. Things begin to change when it appears (to him that) Daphne may exist in separate realities. This becomes an obsession for him as it challenges everything he believes in.A fast paced original story, emotionally and psychologically charged. Garrett has personal struggles to overcome, as well as the newfound possibility of more than one Daphne. Combining psychology with physics was fascinating and kept me at the edge of my seat. Add the 1960's setting, songs and politics from the era was a refreshing "blast from the past". I was hooked from the first page up until the end. A true five star read. Highly recommend to all.
    • 5/5
      First business. I received this book as an Advanced Reader Copy from librarything.com in return for an unbiased review. And I'm glad I did. I absolutely love this book.The story takes place in the later 1960s (from about 1967 to 1969). As it turns out, I was in high school in those years, as is Daphne, one of the main characters. Daphne is 16, cute, with a head of flaming red hair. She's also wearing a yellow rain slicker when we first meet her. Seems like a person hard to miss.Our other main character is Garrett Adams, a 35-year-old psychology professor at a small school in upstate New Your conducting listless experiments on rats. One day he realizes that his research is going nowhere and he has no idea how to get it back on track. He'd had all is work with him in the city doing research and another university library when this conclusion overwhelmed him. He took all his research, data, charts, graphs, and photos and threw them into a city trashcan. I'm not sure what happened to the rats.Garrett wonders into an NYC bookstore and decides to peruse the physics section, long an interest to him. He picks up a book with 2 Egyptian cats representing Schrodinger's cat experiments on the cover. He loves the book. He makes an unusual random decision to buy a copy of the book for the next person who picks one up. It turns out to be Daphne.Daphne becomes his Schrodinger girl. After a second meeting he takes her to an art gallery. Garrett knew the manager (Caroline, an old flame of his) and wanted to say hello. The gallery had a new display by a prominent local artist. Included in the new work is a large water color of a nude young girl. There is no mistaking it, the painting is of Daphne. Daphne, embarrassed, says it can't be her, and runs out of the gallery and into the night.This bit of weirdness manages to light a new spark between Garrett and Caroline and they begin to date and become lovers once again. One thorn in the side of this relationship is Daphne. Garrick has no romantic interest in her (she's only 16 he protests), but over the next few months of infrequent meetings with her he becomes convinced that there isn't just one Daphne, but maybe as many as 4, each exhibiting a different personality. He builds an elaborate timeline on his study wall, which pretty much freaks out Caroline when she first sees it.Garrett's only real friend is Jerry, a clinical psychologist. Jerry, who has problems of his own, things Garrett is going crazy. How can there be 4 manifestations of the same girl and only Garrett can see them? Several attempts to get 2 of the Daphnes together are unsuccessful. He clings to scant proof such as a post card from Daphne in Italy arriving the same day he spoke to her on the phone.The book is really about Garrett finally coming to terms with the world around him. He's been basically on hold for the past 15 years since his wife had a stillborn birth. The Daphne's represent different aspects of 1960s American culture, bringing Garrett into each, whether it be music (lots of Beatles lyrics), anti-war protesting or drug use each Daphne is a hook into this exciting new world.The handling of Garrett's growth, the mystery of the Daphnes, the growing affair with Caroline are all handled well.I've read plenty of books which I liked until the ending. I really couldn't conceive of an ending which would work for me. Which is why I don't try to write novels for a living. But let me say that Laurel Brett really stuck the landing. I was completely happy with the ending, especially the little twist she threw in.I'd warn you that if the title "The Schrodinger Girl" doesn't say something to you about the possible impermanence of reality this may not be the book for you. If you know the term Schrodinger as something math and physics related, don't let that scare you away. Math and physics are mentioned but there are no equations. It you think this may be a romp through alternate dimensions (as I thought) you might be disappointed, but I wasn't disappointed.
    • 3/5
      The storyline was intriguing but the actual book does not deliver. It is convoluted and confusing and terribly slow moving. Daphne keeps morphing into different selves as Garrett tried to figure out just who she is or if she is different people in parallel universes. Not the kind of book I would read again. I did receive this book as part of LibraryThing's early reviewer program.
    • 4/5
      My ReviewThe blurb on this book immediately caught my attention: I have always been fascinated by the paradox of Schrodinger’s cat: the ambiguity, the being/not being. In addition, I loved for years in the location the book takes place in, New York City and a few blocks away from the bookstore I believe the protagonist and the eponymous girl meet in. The time is the 1960s—a time when I was a teenager trying to make sense of the world.Garrett Adams is a behavioral psychologist feeling uninspired and discouraged in his career, his relationships, and his life. He can’t make sense of or embrace the time he is living in: the 1960s. He is boring and bored. Then he meets teenage Daphne in a bookstore. They are both looking for a book on quantum physics. This fact draws them together and they continue to meet and explore New York City. But Daphne seems a little different at each meeting. We come to understand that this is a book of parallel worlds and multiple beings. His experience of these worlds and new perspectives dislodges Garret from his depressed state and awakens him to his own life. He begins to examine his relationships, including the wished for one of being a father. He begins to come to life.Although slow moving at times, I was engaged by the premise of the book and how it is worked out. Garrett is not a likable character—not repulsive but boring (as he is bored) but becomes more interesting as the book progresses. I found myself looking forward to each of Daphne’s appearances, to see who she is now: always a little different yet still the same.An interesting look at what the world could be—and perhaps, in fact, is. Many worlds beyond our imagination.
    • 2/5
      I didn't really like this book at all. The storyline was so convoluted with the different Daphnes that Garrett tried to figure out if they were the same girl or in parallel universes. Perhaps someone who is more into physics would find the book interesting. I really do dislike saying that I found a book boring and had to skip to the last couple of chapters just to finish it, but that's the way I feel. I know the author probably put a lot of effort into the book, and I see there are some good reviews as well as ones that are not.
    • 2/5
      In all honesty, this book sounded much better than it actually was. It was slow and the characters were flat. The entire Daphne storyline grated on my nerves. The unending pages of the same questions...How many Daphne's are there? Are they each real people? Are they figments of an imagination? Are they separate personalities inside one Daphne? And on and on, over and over again. Garrett's obsession with Daphne was beyond creepy. I had a hard time wanting to continue reading this book. Then once politics was stirred into the mix...ugh!I received this book from Librarything's Early Reviewer's giveaway.
    • 5/5
      This was a strong case of a great initial character concept, decently executed introductions and plot development, and then an ending that was lackluster. To be fair to the author, I don't know which ending I would have appreciated more (other than perhaps a Clue-esque series of potential endings) but what was presented as a neatly tied bow in the course of a semester for a college professor who had spent a year in a free fall. Perhaps I felt that the main character did not deserve the rewards he received, or that the payment made for them was quite great enough.That said, the book is WELL worth a read for the lead up to the ending... especially given the conceptual nature of the novel. You can imagine a different ending and assume that's how this book ends in an alternate reality.
    • 4/5
      I really liked this book about a rather suppressed and isolated professor in the 60's coming back into his life. Garrett Adams has been just coasting through life without feelings until he meets Daphne. But Daphne isn't what she seems, leading him to research physics, learn about Schrodinger's cat and launch into new and interesting psychology research. I love psychology, reading about psychedelic research that occurred back in the 60's and all of the 60's music references. So many things here to love!
    • 3/5
      This is an unusual speculative fiction novel set in the 1960's. The main character is Garrett Adams, a behavioral psychology professor. He is kind of an old-fashioned guy who has suffered some personal losses and has an academic life in a downhill trajectory. Then one day in a bookstore, he meets a 16-year-old girl named Daphne by sheer chance and everything starts to change for him. She is a free spirit who introduces him to all the amazing music of the day and also makes him aware of the turbulent Vietnam War protests. But then things get really weird. When he meets up with her at different times, Daphne seems to be split into separate versions of herself from some sort of multiverses. Garrett becomes obsessed with questions about physics, reality, personality, and destiny. His obsession with the Daphnes is somewhat creepy and threatens his relationship with a beautiful art historian and an old friendship with a fellow psychologist. Is Garrett crazy or is he "turning on" as his horizons expand and perceiving a whole new world of possibilities?The idea for this novel was okay but the execution was mixed at best for my personal reading taste.
    • 5/5
      The Schrodinger Girl is about the 1960s, about physics, about art and myth and psychology, about time and lifetimes, and much more. Laurel Brett puts much into these slightly more than three hundred pages. The plot is complex, told only from the reporting of Garrett, a professor unenthusiastically teaching behavioral psychology, and despondent over his failed experiments. We follow him in his mind as he reads pop physics books and at the same time begins meeting what may be different versions a teenage girl, Daphne. Daphne may be living proof of multiple-universes, an idea which does not quite fit into theory of modern physics. This could become very creepy or very weird, but happily neither of these happen - well, maybe some weirdness.Garrett is a member of the silent generation. He has lost his father to World War II, and has so far not liked what is happening in the sixties. That changes as he meets the different Daphne’s, begins to understand the music and the whole sixties scene, and finds a real girlfriend, Caroline. Much happens in this novel as we wonder what is up with Garrett. Is he sane, is he onto something, is someone playing tricks on him, what will he do next? After many twists and turns, Brett’s ending nicely answers these questions.
    • 3/5
      The idea of there being four “alternate” versions of Daphne, a 16-year-old girl the protagonist meets, is fascinating. Wanting to see what the next alternate would be like, the protagonist’s next interaction with them, and if they would ever meet each other kept me reading. The physics and psychology discussions were interesting.As far as the writing goes, there’s nothing wrong with it—it’s clear and easy to follow—there’s just nothing special about it. Some of the pacing was a little slow and some scenes that I assume were supposed to be emotional didn’t pack any punch. I didn’t feel invested in the characters and actually thought the best friend and love interest were annoying. (They were frustrated with the protagonist’s obsession with the four Daphnes, which I guess is understandable, but hard to relate to since my reaction would have been “Holy crap! This is bizarre! I have to help you figure it out!”) I wasn’t alive during the 60’s so I don’t know how accurate the book is in that regard, but there’s certainly lots of historical references to anchor the story in that time period.Overall great story concept with okay writing. If you like “idea” books that explore scientific/psychological concepts, pick this one up! If you’re more into character driven or emotionally engrossing novels with high stakes, you might need to look elsewhere. Please note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.