Debbie Harpham
from author’s website
RACHEL’S DEBUT NOVEL IS A BEND IN THE STARS. It has been named a New York Times Summer Reading Selection and a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection. It is also a Boston Globe Bestseller. Rachel’s second novel, The History of Time Travel, is forthcoming from Grand Central (2021).
Rachel is a prolific writer and reviewer for the LA Review of Books, the Tel Aviv Review of Books and DeadDarlings. She is a graduate of GrubStreet’s Novel Incubator. In a former life she was a hedge fund manager and a spin instructor. She has degrees from Harvard in Business, and Literature and Philosophy. She lives in Brookline, MA with her husband, three children, and dog named Zishe—after the folk hero who inspires many tales around their dinner table. Rachel is represented by Eve Attermann at WME.
ABOUT A BEND IN THE STARS:
All the Light We Cannot See meets The Nightingale in this literary WWI-era novel and epic love story of a brilliant young doctor who races against Einstein to solve one of the universe’s great mysteries.
In Russia, in the summer of 1914, as war with Germany looms and the Czar’s army tightens its grip on the local Jewish community, Miri Abramov and her brilliant physicist brother, Vanya, are facing an impossible decision. Since their parents drowned fleeing to America, Miri and Vanya have been raised by their babushka, a famous matchmaker who has taught them to protect themselves at all costs: to fight, to kill if necessary, and always to have an escape plan. But now, with fierce, headstrong Miri on the verge of becoming one of Russia’s only female surgeons, and Vanya hoping to solve the final puzzles of Einstein’s elusive theory of relativity, can they bear to leave the homeland that has given them so much?
Before they have time to make their choice, war is declared and Vanya goes missing, along with Miri’s fiancé. Miri braves the firing squad to go looking for them both. As the eclipse that will change history darkens skies across Russia, not only the safety of Miri’s own family but the future of science itself hangs in the balance.
Grounded in real history — and inspired by the solar eclipse of 1914 — A Bend in the Stars offers a heart-stopping account of modern science’s greatest race amidst the chaos of World War I, and a love story as epic as the railways crossing Russia.
Available for purchase here.
SELECT PRAISE FOR A BEND IN THE STARS:
“…a thrilling adventure” NPR
“…an epic march across Russia during the summer of 1914… The history of the period and the region has been carefully studied, but Barenbaum carves a fresh story from some of its most evocative and disturbing details.” NEW YORK TIMES
“…A Bend in the Stars reveals our collective impotence against the whims of the universe. And yet, the characters Barenbaum brings to life demonstrate resilience in the face of prejudice, steadfastness in the face of defeat, and the ability to love even when the world has cracked with hate.” LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS
“A rousing debut. . . Fans of Kristin Hannah will enjoy Barenbaum’s exhilarating tale.” PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
AUTHOR VISITS:
Author visits with Rachel Barenbaum are available via staging.novelsandbox.com/our-authors/.