Enlightenment by Sarah Perry

Enlightenment is a novel about science and faith, as two unlikely friends push at the edges of belief and love. Thomas Hart and Grace Macauley both worship at Bethesda in the Essex town of Aldleigh, long time friends despite being very different ages. When Thomas meets James Bower, and they are drawn into the mystery of nineteenth century astronomer Maria Veduva, he falls in love, but as they are frustrated in their searches for Maria’s history, Thomas realises that James doesn’t love him in the same way. And Grace meets Nathan, a teenager with no connection to Bethesda, and is caught between different kinds of love and faith, until one moment throws all of them apart.

This is a hard book to describe, with the feeling of a historical novel at times despite being set in the 90s onwards, and with the narrative intercut with Thomas’ articles for the local paper. It is about different kinds of beliefs, from religious to astronomy to love, and Perry mingles all of these ideas together in a way that transcends any of them, really. The book focuses in on very human moments and emotions, such as love that wasn’t meant to be, and the seemingly small things people do that have huge consequences, and you really feel this from the way it moves perspective, the narrative voice flying through Aldleigh at times to show you what is going on.

Both Thomas’ and Grace’s stories are moving, particularly Thomas’ slow realisations of how things might seem or impact other people differently, and in the importance of just knowing people. The depiction of a gay man who had grown up in a faith that made him feel ashamed of that is gripping and sad, but also he does find purpose and peace, not the least within astronomy and science. Grace’s narrative is perhaps a more traditional ‘grown up within a particular church and then leave it’ one, but again, with a lot of wistful longing for what might’ve been.

Enlightenment isn’t necessarily the sort of book I’d immediately pick out, but I was interested by Thomas’ story from the blurb, and actually the book was complex and bittersweet.