A Bend In The Stars, Barenbaum - B-

                                  This is a solid novel set in and around Kovno (Kaunas, Lithuania) and Kiev in the summer of 1914. The key characters are Jewish, at a time when the institutionalized hatred and persecution of Jews in the Pale is worse than ever, with war on the horizon. Miri is a physician, as is her fiance, Yuri.  Her brother Vanya is a brilliant theoretical mathematician, engaged in a bit of a long-distance rivalry with Albert Einstein. The focus of the story is Vanya's attempt to photograph an eclipse to see light bend, and thus to  confirm the theory of relativity before Einstein. It is also a love story as the brave Sasha replaces Yuri in Miri's heart. The author attempts a broad brush depiction of the chaos of that summer. But I believe she misses the mark with one too many harrowing escapes, close calls, fortuitously obtained train rides, wounds recovered from, and just too much luck at such an unlucky time and place.