The story unfolds in four parts, revealing the heart-breaking story of Grace and her parents. A series of personal tragedies, not so very unusual, have impacted these lives – and grief sabotages their relationships. It has made them inarticulate – incapable of expressing their emotions except in eloquent silence. The pain they cause each other is immense, and enduring. For Grace, whose dreams and ambitions of a career in architecture have collapsed, a new relationship with Michael offers a new sense of self, but Michael’s obsession with the stories of ancient astronomers takes him off to remote parts of Egypt. And it’s even harder to communicate by letter than it is face-to-face…

Smith’s writing is exquisite, seductive and powerful. It’s not a page-turner in the usual sense, but the present tense narration gives the novel immediacy and intensity and I could not stop reading until I finished it in the small hours of the morning. Lured by captivating imagery and intimate detail in settings that range in time and place - from contemporary Perth to a village in postwar Bedfordshire and then what seems like a timeless journey across the Nullarbor to Melbourne, I simply had to discover the legacy of silence and secrets that lay at the heart of this novel.
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2012/03/31/a-new-map-of-the-universe-by-annabel-smith/ ( )

A perceptive, lyrical novel about silences and different kinds of love by a new Australian author.

At first Amanda Smith seRead morems to have written a set of short stories, each of which can stand alone. Finally the linkage between the stories is revealed and other patterns that repeat in them becoming apparent. These are stories about loss and grief and how individuals may close in on themselves to avoid the pain of their memories. And these are stories about how such attempts to shield oneself from pain can hurt others. Children growing up in face of such silence will be scared and need to be loved in order to heal. Only by facing the pain rather than hiding in the silence can new love be built. Only then can a person acquire “a new map of the universe” that will allow moving on.

Read more at my blog. http://mdbrady.wordpress.com/2012/05/10/a-new-map-of-the-universe-by-annabel-smi...