The Tenth Muse

<br /><i>The Tenth Muse</i> is a dazzling portrait of a young woman who refused to fit the shape of the small space the world left for her. Katherine, our protagonist, had shone brighter than was permitted a woman. The Riemann hypothesis was the mystery that had opened her mind like a door, and she has never doubted that the path to it would one day open, stark and clear before her feet. Katherine’s desire to come out on top was born out of the conviction that she didn’t have to be her opponents’ equal to be considered a worthy contender—she had to be <em>better</em>. But in her obsession with cracking the uncrackable equation, an underlying crisis emerges: young and drifting, Katherine is searching for identity, and answers to the tragedy that had ruptured her family forever.<br /><br /><blockquote>“<em>All my life I’ve been told to let go as gracefully as possible. What’s worse, after all, than a hungry woman, greedy for all that isn’t meant to be hers? Still, I resist. In the end we relinquish everything: I think I’ll hold on, while I can</em>.”</blockquote><br /><br />From its first sentence, <i>The Tenth Muse</i> grabs the reader with its directness and earnestness. “I suppose I should warn you that I tell a story like a woman,” Katherine begins, “looping into myself, interrupting.” Thus, standing knee-deep in the rubble of her life, Katherine starts delicately piecing it back together, losing her footing and slipping, but rising every time to scrabble forward—one last lamp shining down on the unmarred pages—toward the realization that only at the end of one’s life can one look back and see lucidly the prices they paid along the way.<br /><br />Katherine chronicles her own tale, with the novel spanning a number of difficult decades. Katherine's memories are seized up, measured and weighted: her mother’s face, glossy with joy, beaming through her haze, and her subsequent painful absence; the relationships she cultivated and lost; her works, validated and stolen in one fell swoop; the loss of her brilliance, the withering of her grace, all the things that had to be worked and learned through errors and trials; and above all, her indigence over inequality, the plight of women in the world, and the madness that rose from a new creeping certainty: that there is only so much forcing of the world a woman can do.<br /><br />Throughout, Katherine's voice is urgent but measured, almost giving the impression that she is unburdening herself to a patient and sympathetic interviewer. The result is a profoundly searching book—one that could potentially be frustrating for readers who require propulsive plots and clean resolutions, as it offers neither. Still, Chung makes it work beautifully by impeccably building a sense of inexorable apprehension as we begin to discern elements of self-deception and omission in Katherine’s narration, and secrets swell to bursting with world-shaking promise.<br /><br />As the novel probes the secrets and lies that thrum beneath the surface of Katherine’s family, <em>The Tenth Muse</em> demonstrates, heartbreakingly, how acts of brutality—even those distant in time and geography—cast a dark shadow over relationships. Through Katherine’s voice, <em>The Tenth Muse</em> also explores the cold outer limits of ambition (“Don’t you know the rule,” they said, “that the price of your dearest wish is always everything you have?”) Katherine’s want, hard and spare, took hold of her, driving out the fears, the ones people tried to give her, tried to put into her heart with dark looks and patronizing smiles. But Katherine not only navigates her gender in a male-dominated field—she navigates her mixed race as well. Ethnicity, gender—these things don’t matter until they do, and it’s as exquisitely articulated as anything this thoughtful author has put to the page.<br /><br />The central message of Katherine’s character arc is one that I should’ve seen coming, but was utterly astonished when I finally realized the author’s goals for her. That said, <em>The Tenth Muse </em>isn't all grim. The heart is always able to beat with a new rhythm and this sentiment is core to the novel. I won’t dare spoil the context, but the novel's final words still haunt my thoughts: “in the end, we can only unlock our own locks, we have only the gift of ourselves.”<br /><br />Highly recommended!

The Tenth Muse by Catherine Chung is as ambitious and intriguing as the conplex math problems Katherine, the protagonist of this remarkable novel aims to solve. This is a novel, the scope of which is staggering--as Katherine moves through her life trying to discover who she is while negotiating the world of mathematics as a woman who refuses to be silenced or sidelined for anyone, no matter what it costs her. In her second novel, Chung has crafted a story that is moving, elegant and richly written. Her prose, as it unfolds, becomes an elusive equation readers will yearn to solve.<br />

<b>Resolve</b><br />My left brain aches, my right brain aches, my heart aches. <i>The Tenth Muse</i> is an extraordinary story that takes personal ambition, the logic of mathematics, and the highly emotional turmoil of family secrets and love, and overlays them to create an outstanding novel. A story that paints the most challenging decisions we would ever have to make – a choice between the things we love most.<br /><br />Katherine has a gifted mathematical mind and from her childhood through to University she has always been disparaged and mistreated as she sought to compete in a male-dominated environment. Determined to never suppress her mind, her tenacious drive to open doors into new mathematical revelations placed her personal ambition above all of life’s other fulfilments. <br /><br />Kat grew up with a Chinese mother and American father but early in her life, her mother left, unable to live the lie that she was Katherine’s birth mother and that her parents were married. Later also finding out that her father wasn’t her natural father, set in motion an anxious exploration into solving the mystery who her parents were. This led Kat to Germany and secrets that stemmed back to the Second World War, a Jewish family line, an escape to safety, two mathematicians as parents and a notebook that she instinctively held precious her whole life which was full of equations and mathematical notation.<br /><br />What I found fascinating in the story was how well delivered the emotional and mental struggle in confronting unattainable resolution was portrayed. Kat’s life is often defined in choices between her very individual pursuit of ground-breaking achievements in solving mathematical theories, such as the Riemann hypothesis, and the human relationship costs. <blockquote> <i> “All my life I’ve been told to let go as gracefully as possible. What’s worse, after all, than a hungry woman, greedy for all that isn’t meant to be hers? Still, I resist. In the end, we relinquish everything: I think I’ll hold on, while I can.” </i> </blockquote> Kat’s integrity is admirable and what she really wants from those close to her is to be respected in her ability to achieve her goals, without favours. She also wanted to be recognised as a fashionable woman without camouflaging her femininity.<br /><br />As someone with a mathematical background and lover of literature, this double pleasure truly hit the mark with me. While language is the mechanism of literature, <i>mathematics is the language in which God has written the universe – Galileo Galilei.</i> This is a novel that examines the determination of achieving personal recognition in mathematics accomplishment and the determination to uncover the truth of her background and family history. Kat’s character and principles are wonderfully observed and challenged, knowing that the right choice will likely be the most difficult path but she will have to live with the consequences. <br /><br />This is an inspiring story for those fighting prejudices and those seeking encouragement to prioritise their own dreams. The Tenth Muse is an enthralling story that I would highly recommend. I'd like to thank Little Brown Book Group and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC version in return for an honest review.

A fascinatingly erudite and thought provoking historical novel by Catherine Chung written in the style of a personal memoir, with the extraordinary Katherine reflecting with on the challenges of her past life with the self awareness that perhaps there was much that she could have approached more wisely with the benefit of hindsight. She grew up in the post-WW2 years in small town New Umbria in Michigan, the child of an interracial relationship, with her American father, a man silent on his wartime experience, and Chinese mother. It was her father who triggered her curiosity in science, and her mother opened her eyes to the underlying principles within nature, prior to abandoning her when she was young. Katherine's aptitude for mathematics, the key to life's mysteries, was apparent even as a child, in this story of ambition, family drama, tragedy, lies, secrets, race, gender, love, and culture, where past history continues to haunt the future.<br /><br />Feeling like an outsider even as a child, where her abilities were unacknowledged and treated with contempt, these are experiences that are to repeated in her future. It is surprising that Katherine wins a university scholarship, as she steps into an academic world run by men for men. Katherine harbours a drive to solve the mystery behind the Riemann Hypothesis, the greatest mathematical problem of the time. All that she believes about her personal fractured family history collapses as she now reevaluates her sense of identity and events that occurred during WW2 and secrets buried there. Despite the obstacles that face her, like the tenth muse of myth and legend, the strong, independent Katherine is determined to forge her own path in life, irrespective of the price it costs and toll it takes on her. <br /><br />Chung is herself a mathematician, and she outlines the history of mathematics and science with skill and simplicity for the non-mathematician in this wonderfully complex novel. The characterisation of Katherine is complicated and well developed, both compulsive and satisfying. This is an inspiring read, beautifully written and moving, original in its interweaving of mathematics, history, identity and gender. Absolutely loved it, and recommend it highly. Many thanks to Little, Brown for an ARC.

this isnt the most exciting story out there. its quiet and understated, following the life of a woman in an unassuming way.<br /><br />its a life of academia and universities, the consequences of war, being at home and exploring abroad, as well as discovering ones own identity. <br /><br />i think if you prefer character driven novels and topics of mathematical mysteries, then this is the book for you!<br /><br /><b>↠ <i>3.5 stars</i></b>

<b> All the World’s A Pulpit </b><br /><br />Catherine Chung has issues. Many, many issues. All packed tightly into this sardine tin-like novel of academic mathematics: misogyny and male cruelty of almost every sort to women, casual racism, inter-generational miscommunication, parental abandonment and lone parenting, warfare on two continents, international child smuggling, American academic politics, absence of sisterhood in science, the sad biographies of a number of important mathematicians ancient and modern (most ending badly), personal betrayal, sexual harassment, family deceit, PTSD, some not very subtle didacticism about number theory, and... oh yes, the frustrations of research into the proof of the Riemann Hypothesis.<br /><br />Chung has just too many axes to grind, so many that none are made very sharp at all. I get it that most men are dicks and that women suffer terribly as a consequence. But this is hardly a revelation. That racism is endemic in small town America is also not a surprise. That families have secrets, lovers irritate one another, and life is often complicated and disappointing are not terribly newsworthy (or fiction worthy) topics unless some other literary purpose is served. Even the quite valid point that injustice reigns in a supposedly civilised world is on its own nothing more than a trite observation. Chung’s appreciation of the aesthetics of mathematics is clear, but her skill in communicating that appreciation is far less so. And the narrative glue, the central mystery of the piece, is so unlikely that it verges on literary criminality. The whole leads nowhere, at least nowhere interesting, certainly not a destination.<br /><br />I think the takeaway from this book is that if an author intends to preach, he or she really has to decide what they want to preach about. The sin and its source have to be made explicit. Universal evil doesn’t have much credibility, even among hardened Gnostics. Serious writers then must ensure that no one knows they’re preaching if they’re doing so outside a church, synagogue, or mosque. Preaching reaches only as far as the choir in any case, and often not even that far. Much better to let moral outrage emerge through subtle insight than to have one’s protagonists agonise continuously about it. And if you’re describing bad behaviour, it helps to suggest a way such behaviour might be mitigated other than by the wholesale incarceration of those bearing the XY chromosomal infirmity. Otherwise even your fans might abandon the cheap seats for a more entertaining venue.

Thanks so much for your interest in THE TENTH MUSE! I hope you like it, and am so grateful to all of my readers.

I am into humanities, but this book proved to be both fascinating and engaging for me despite the field which I do not enter eagerly, namely, mathematics. It tells an intriguing story of a woman who, step by step, learns about her true identity and becomes a renowned mathematician against all odds. <br />The novel talks about some theories in a most interesting way, easy to follow by a reader with average knowledge, which I appreciated, and at the same time it is a tale of learning who Katherine really is, presented in the way that made me read till wee hours.<br />*A big thank-you to catherine Chung, Little, Brown UK and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*

Ebook, read ...own ....<br /> Plus....as a bonus ....I listened ( skimmed a little)... to the audiobook from the library (overdrive)....read by the ‘audiobook-goddess’ &gt; *Cassandra Campbell*. <br /><br />“The Tenth Muse”.... was a FANTASTIC SURPRISE! I have no idea why I put off reading it —<br /> —reviews from * Peter, Paromjit, and Barbara*— are outstanding! Read them. I could honestly just cut and paste THEIR REVIEWS.... lol.... <br />But....<br />what my friends didn’t tell me, ( mean people), was “NOT TO MISS THIS BOOK”. <br />I mean ‘really’ —“don’t skip this treasure” ......or listen to the audiobook ( either is great choice). It has a lot of emotional heart. <br />Cassandra Campbell always does justice to the written words.....<br />And...<br />Catherine Chung ‘wrote’ outstanding words. ( great fit together). <br /><br />The storytelling drew me in immediately- it felt a little like a memoir- but it’s historical fiction. <br />Nobody has to be mathematician ( you don’t even need to know how to add)...to enjoy this book ....but those who ‘are’ in mathematic academia - will delight in the math-chatter-problem-solving-sections. <br />Silly me ( god I have too much time on my hands some days), I started googling Berhard Reimann .... wanting to know a little bit more about the German mathematician who made contributions to analysis, number theory, and differential geometry. ( if you just fell asleep reading that sentence - there is more from where it came from). Google is a nice friend. <br />The biggest thing I learned —- was that people who try to conquer the Reimann Hypothesis, don’t do it for money! Well... there is $1 million dollars to be earned if you do... so I wouldn’t shake off the bonus prize too easily. <br />So....with google’s help...I thought I’d quickly solve the challenging Reimann Hypothesis, for free! Ha...I failed. I just got hungry! <br /><br />But back to more chatter and book reporting on “The Tenth Muse”...<br />There are main and subplots - themes worth discussing....ie...advance math,(numberphile), family, ( background family history), relationships, loss, abandonment, prejudice, competitiveness, selfworth, history, politics, mythology, literature, thriller-mystery aspects, womanhood, manhood, women in a field dominated by men, life challenges in general....love and all the complexities of love ( mixed with career passions). <br /><br />Ladies?.....what would you do if you were only one of three women at a large academic conference with other men? <br />Would you purposely choose to hang around the other couple of women— or would you avoid them completely— why or why not? The book describe a scene that had me look at the situation very differently than what I thought I would normally have done.<br /><br />The reason I jumped to read this book now in the first place was because Catherine Chung’s book, “The Tenth Muse”, was chosen as our ‘book-of-the-year’....part of our local “Silicon Valley Reads”, program. I love finishing a book - ( that has much to examine), then going to a group talk after. <br />Catherine was scheduled to be speaking at different venues and library’s all over town. I was looking forward to attending. <br />But...<br />...all events have been canceled due to the coronavirus that has hit our area. Emergency declaration has been mandated: all mass gatherings are cancelled. <br />Forty-five people have been confirmed ‘coronavirus-positive’, in my area. Increased numbers are anticipated. So....I won’t be hearing Catherine Chung speak about this book — but I definitely recommend reading it— reading it with a buddy would add value, too. <br /><br />It’s an overall great novel with much interest to keep any reading-junkie- in the 7th-heaven-unputdownable satiated zone! <br /><br />THIS IS HOW THIS BOOK BEGINS....<br /> “Everyone knows that ONCE UPON A TIME there were nine muses. They were known as the daughters of Zeus, and wise men loved them, for they bestowed the gift of genius. ‘Sing in me O Muse’! cried Homer, <br />and the muses answered: filling his voice and spinning out his mortal talents to make immortal tales”. <br /> “What not everyone knows is that once there existed another sister, who chose a different path. She was the youngest of them, and the most reckless, and when she came of age and it was time to claim and art, she shook her head, and she refused. She said she did not wish to sing in the voices of men, telling only the stories they wished to tell. She preferred to sing her songs herself”. <br /><br />Katherine grew up in a small town - New Umbria, Michigan in the 50’s.<br />Asian, American, mixed race with Jewish blood, a math prodigy.<br />She knew she was different and she knew what she was up against- <br />She wanted what she wanted.... to be respected for her academic brilliance- and also — for her right to enjoy “being a girl”....( you can sing ?....”The Flower Girl Song”, now.....”I enjoy being a girl”!<br />Point is —-she didn’t have to dress like a man, even though she was mostly and predominantly working along side more men than women. <br /><br />Wonderful - looking back - reflective story.... you’ll learn about Katherine’s coming of age, schools she attended,<br />college, post graduate education, the background of Katherine’s parents, withheld secrets, legends, the brutal devastation that WWII was, goals, mistakes, regrets, dreams and hope....and the essence between math and love. <br /><br />Kudos to Catherine Chung. I really enjoyed her book - and hope to meet her here in the Bay Area one of these days. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />

What a beautiful and mesmerizing book. I didn't so much read it as get lost in it, finishing it in little more than a day. Katherine is a Mathemetician, professional, respected, and accomplished. In the novel she looks back on her life, particularly the early stages of her career which were inextricably bound up with the story of where she came from.<br /><br />In post-WWII America, numbers come naturally to Katherine from an early age, but the world of mathematics is never a natural fit. She is always the only woman, and almost always the only person who is not white (she's half white, half Chinese). The system is stacked against her in ways large and small, but despite her intelligence, she is not the kind of person who can use her confidence and boldness to push her forward against the tide. <br /><br />Some of her insecurity is natural, but much of it is tied deeply to the mother who abandoned her as a child. As she grows up, this gets even more complicated when she discovers that hardly anything she knows about her family is true. Katherine's journey searching for her own identity, her family, her history, and her career all end up coming to a head together.<br /><br />I have a particular soft spot for books about women in STEM and this one hit the spot. (It's the second 2019 release I've read and enjoyed, after LOST AND WANTED by Nell Freudenberger, about a female physicist and a difficult friendship.) It's clear Chung has dug deeply into Mathematics and that Katherine's brain hums with potential, but it also has the kind of family saga and historical drama you'd find in a book like PACHINKO. (If I was going to give this book as a mashup, it would be something like PACHINKO + Weike Wang's CHEMISTRY, books I both enjoyed very much but with very different styles, I see this one as melding them somewhat.) Deep and meaty enough topics about race, identity, and gender that it would be a perfect fit for any book club looking for a rewarding read.