Evidence of Things Unseen : A Novel (Hardcover)

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From Publishers Weekly
The redoubtable Wiggins, always fearless in choosing subjects for her work (John Dollar; Almost Heaven) here tells the story of the atomic bomb through the eyes of one average Joe, amateur chemist Ray Foster, or "Fos," of Kitty Hawk, N.C. His fascination with "the kinds of lights nature can produce, the ones not always visible to man," serves him well in lighting the trenches during the Great War in France. When it is over, fellow soldier "Flash" Handy invites Fos to help him start a photography studio in Knoxville, Tenn. In a fated moment, Fos falls in love with a glassblower's daughter, the unflappable and luminescent Opal; they marry, and Opal helps run the studio. Meanwhile, Flash turns out to be a man with many secrets, one so tragic that it separates him permanently from Fos and Opal. Their sorrow at Flash's fate is somewhat forgotten when, after years of infertility, they are granted a baby, named Lightfoot. They move to land Opal inherits in rural Tennessee, but after it is claimed by the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1942, Fos finds a job in Oak Ridge with a government lab that, unbeknownst to him, is on deadline to create the atomic bomb that will be dropped on Hiroshima. In response to that horrific event and other heartache, the Fosters do something desperate that only serves to betray their nine-year-old son. Lightfoot proves to be more courageous and determined than Fos or Opal ever were, and finally finds the only person left in the world who can help him. Wiggins fits her lyrical prose to a distinctly rural, Southern cadence, easily blending the vernacular with luminous imagery, adding bits of poetry, passages explaining scientific phenomena, interpolations about the Scopes trial and even references to Moby-Dick, which serves as a leitmotif. By the time she brings the narrative full circle in a masterful and moving plot twist, she has succeeded in creating "literature as an ongoing exploration of the human tragedy-man's condition." Wiggins comes into her own with this novel, her best book to date.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ray "Fos" Foster loves just three things in life: anything that lights up; his wife, Opal, the daughter of a glassblower; and his best friend, bemused, cynical Chance "Flash" Luttrell. Fos and Flash, who met in the trenches of World War I, start up a business as photographers in Knoxville, Tennessee, while Opal keeps the books. The first thing Opal discovers is that black sheep Flash is underwriting the whole enterprise with inherited wealth. But their congenial partnership ends badly when Flash falls in love with the 14-year-old daughter of a powerful politician and is jailed for violating the Mann Act. The Fosters head to the country, make a bust of farming, and take in a foundling they nickname Lightfoot. Fos' passion for science leads to work at a secret government facility, where the couple unknowingly contracts a fatal case of radiation poisoning. Things come full circle when Lightfoot turns 18 and, desperate for information about his parents, tracks down Flash. Leave it to Wiggins to make this quirky story of passion and science so hypnotic. The plotting is digressive, the themes are stark, the language is lush, and the idiosyncratic characters are entirely winning. A heartfelt tribute to the risks and rewards of following one's inner lights. Joanne Wilkinson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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First Sentence:
Somewhere in the heart of North America there is a desert where the heat of several suns has fused the particles of sand into a single sheet of glass so dazzling it sends a constant signal to the moon. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
dimestore novels, fish hearts, sand track, glory hole Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
North Carolina, Oak Ridge, Ray Foster, Kitty Hawk, United States, Clarence Darrow, Nags Head, Outer Banks, Chance Luttrell, Clinch River, Bud Overmarker, Knox County, Lally Gallagher, Locust Street, Sleeping Game, Madame Curie, Muscle Shoals, Ray Junior, Summit Hill, Clinch Avenue, Great Smokies, Office of Information, San Francisco, Albert Einstein, Boulder Dam New!
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24 Reviews 5 star:  (15) 4 star:  (8) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:  (1)           Average Customer Review 4.5 out of 5 stars (24 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   14 of 14 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Light, and Love, and Loss, February 18, 2006 By  Brett Benner (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)       This review is from: Evidence of Things Unseen: A Novel (Paperback) There are many book I read, and truly enjoy, and happily give them a five star review. This is the kind of book that reminds you what five stars should truly represent. A heartbreaking and beautiful love story threaded through the creation of the atomic bomb, and America's call to arms, Wiggins has a bounty of just gorgeous prose at her fingertips that she depenses like cultured pearls. Watching the lives of Fos and Opal as they navigate through major events in American history including two wars, the Scopes trial, and creation of the TVA, is both tenderly fascinating and crushing. This is what fantastic writing is all about. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   12 of 12 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Poetic, incandescent prose about the mystery of life, January 28, 2005 By  Reader from Singapore - See all my reviews This review is from: Evidence of Things Unseen: A Novel (Paperback) Marianne Wiggins' "Evidence Of Things Unseen (EOTU)" was an also-ran in the 2003 National Book Awards stake that should have snagged the prize. Shirley Hazzard's "The Great Fire" was a worthy winner but it's also more difficult and less accessible to the reading public. EOTU is an uncommon masterpiece, a magically uplifting work of American fiction that outstrips anything I have read in recent years. Written in gloriously poetic, incandescent prose, EOTU is ambitious, even epic in scope, yet relentlessly intimate in execution. Wiggins somehow manages to locate the fulcrum that keeps the delicate balance throughout without losing either thread. The story of Fos and Opal is a tender love story on one level and a ode to the mystery of life on another. Fos is obsessed with light, radiance, phosphorous material, anything that glows in the dark. Opal is the "gem" that drops into his life while on the way to catch the falling stars one night. But unlike the untutored Opal who exudes a quiet wisdom in dealing with life's surprises, Fos hangs his life on harnessing the natural world for the betterment of mankind, so when his faith in science turns around unexpectedly to backbite the hand that feeds it, his world crumbles and dissolves. But just when it seems like science has dealt the couple its most cruel blow, we are reminded that life has also gifted them with Lightfoot, a child that dropped into their lives, as it were, from nowhere. Just as it is capable of delivering Lightfoot to the childless couple, life is equally capable of letting an innocent child bite into a live cable and leave death and destruction in its wake. When Lightfoot picks up the fallen threads of his life with Flash's help and he meets a girl called Ramona who paints using the invisible glow of fish hearts to illuminate her picture, we know that the cycle of life has once again begun and that it will go on forever. "Evidence Of Things Unseen" is among the finest of contemporary American literature that deserves to be widely read. Go buy yourself a copy. Don't miss it. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   9 of 9 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars pretty spectacular, December 31, 2004 By  Michael Ruggiero - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    Wiggins does a masterful job of intertwining historical themes (American exceptionalism; ethical traps posed by 20th century scientific advances) with larger themes of love and death. But the book has tremendous heart, her characters are not historical constructs but as alive as people you know. Her prose is lyrical, but always inviting, never pretentious. Highly recommended. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 24 customer reviews...		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging novel I read this novel for my book discussion group. I do a lot of reading, and this is the most engaging novel I have recently read. Read more Published 18 days ago by Pamela Gebert 4.0 out of 5 stars A tale of love and loss Marianne Wiggins' `The Evidence of Things Unseen' is a love story set against the looming atomic age in America. Read more Published 3 months ago by Charlie Morris 5.0 out of 5 stars Love, Light, Language I'm not a "believer" in fate. I know the names were obvious, but I did not mind. That is the art of the idea, and I thought it was done beautifully. Read more Published 3 months ago by jonesjones 5.0 out of 5 stars Insistent. I'm an impatient reader, and a book doesn't get many pages to persuade me to stay. I was sold by the first page, and it just bundled me up and carried me along. Read more Published 9 months ago by Chilly Rodent 4.0 out of 5 stars Two lives and another The lives of the parents were so intreguing. But I wondered about the child. I know it doesn't make a difference, but I was left curious. Mary Published 22 months ago by Mary C. Bohm 1.0 out of 5 stars A LIGHT tear-jerker I don't know what my fellow reviewers here have been reading, but the language here is NOT poetic. It is clunky and puts an extraordinary strain on the reader. Read more Published on May 12, 2007 by Daniel Myers 5.0 out of 5 stars Don't read the back of the book This is a great story with rich language. My book group chose this book, and everyone enjoyed it. I rarely choose pages to mark, but marked two for the language. Read more Published on March 10, 2007 by V. Masters 5.0 out of 5 stars Just a wonderful, wonderful story I got this book as a gift. Nothing I would probably have chosen for myself, but once I started it I couldn't put it down. Read more Published on January 18, 2007 by Virginia Mastronardi 5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful and Beautifully Written I was attracted to this book for the style of the prose moreso than the plot. The writing provides textured detail and unanticipated turns of phrases that marvel and provoke... Read more Published on January 14, 2007 by praxishabitus 5.0 out of 5 stars A book that handles complex themes well, without simplifying them Evidence of Things Unseen tells it story through people. It sounds simple, almost all stories seem to be told through people, but a lot of fiction tells the story mainly through... Read more Published on January 6, 2007 by Philip T. Mccollum Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 24 customer reviews...

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