Orpheus Lost
Janette Turner Hospital
Knopf Canada
<p>In this powerful and achingly beautiful novel, Janette Turner Hospital tackles head-on questions of national security, art, terrorism and love.<br><br>From the moment Leela's ear catches the first few bars of music in between the roar of subway trains, she's entranced by its haunting beauty. Letting the music reel her in, in perfect fifths, it's at the end of the inbound platform that she finds Mishka Bartok, singing <i>Che farò senza Euridice</i> and accompanying himself on the violin. He's surrounded by a cluster of commuters, but hardly seems to notice they are there until he stops playing. Despite Mishka's reluctance to talk, Leela discovers that he's a graduate student at Harvard, studying composition. She's a mathematician at MIT, researching the math of music. Their connection is immediate, and that night they embark on a steamy love affair. <br><br>Living together in Boston, Leela and Mishka pursue their mutual passions -- both academic and carnal -- in a fog, as...</p></br></br></br></br>