The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley

The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tinti has a gift for story-telling. Especially in all the ways I love. Taking discrete tales and then tying them into a whole. Using symbolic motifs. Creating tension then cutting it with levity. Taking a tale as far as you think it should go, and then going in that much further. The only thing I didn't particularly like is a personal aversion to the trope of sympathetic gun-slinger who raises a daughter to think guns are the answer, and the symbol of strength, protection, and independence.

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On Jupiter, Loo would weigh 283.6 pounds, while on Pluto she would weigh only 8....Changing where you were could change how much you mattered.

She leaned back.  She closed her eyes.  It could have been a minute.  It could have been an hour.

Their hearts were all cycling through the same madness--the discovery, the bliss, the loss, the despair--like planets taking turns in orbit around the sun.  Each containing their own unique gravity.  Their own force of attraction.  Drawing near and holding fast to whatever entered their own atmosphere.