Sophie has recently discovered that she rather enjoys memoirs. Given that she also has a lifelong love of astrophysics, The Smallest Lights in the Universe by Sara Seager was a must-read when she heard about it, even if it did take her two years to finally pluck it from her TBR…

The Smallest Lights in the Universe follows the life of Sara Seager, an MIT astrophysicist on the autistic spectrum who has been involved in the search for exoplanets (planets that orbit stars other than the sun) for many decades. We follow her career from the first time she truly saw the stars while out on a camping trip in the wilderness as a child, through work with NASA and across numerous prestigious institutions to her finally receiving the MacArthur Fellowship “Genius Grant” in 2013. The book explores the technicalities of searching for exoplanets in a down-to-Earth way that all readers will be able to appreciate, no matter how little expertise they might have in the subject, and all readers will no doubt walk away with a new appreciation for both how and why we hunt for planets outside our solar system.

However, Seager’s career is only half the story. We also follow her family life, beginning with meeting her first husband, Michael, at a young age. The pair had two children but Michael passed away from an aggressive form of cancer shortly after, leaving Seager widowed at forty and floundering as Michael had managed most of the family’s home life, allowing her the opportunity to pursue her career. By chance, Seager met members of a local group calling themselves the Widows of Concord—a collection of other women who had also lost their husbands young—with whom she and her sons made their way through one of the darkest times in her life. The Widows helped Seager to regain control of her life and eventually find the confidence to look for love again, leading to what she calls a “one-in-a-billion match” with an amateur astronomer.

The Smallest Lights in the Universe is a difficult book at times—Sophie had to pause it halfway through and go read something happier—but a wonderful one. There is also a lot of comfort among its pages. The sadness of reading about Seager watching her husband fade away is tempered by the positivity that comes from the powerful friendships she forms with the other young widows she meets. The poetically written descriptions of her frequent canoe trips into the wilderness also add a sense of beauty to the book, and made Sophie want to hike into the arctic in the future, even if she knows full well that she wouldn’t last a day!

The Smallest Lights in the Universe is probably not a book you want to read if you’re in a difficult place right now, especially if you’re feeling lost yourself after the loss of a loved one. But if you’re looking for a book that will help reel you in after a long time lost at sea, then this may well be the one calling your name.

This is a beautifully written book by an astonishing woman. How does someone become an astrophysicist! Dr Seager did not have an easy ride for several reasons but the death of her husband was a huge blow and the book goes through the death and the way she tries to help and yet protect her young sons to deal with losing their father. The story of someone trying to find life on other planets or to improve how we deal with discovery and science shouldn’t be this fascinating and although I didn’t understand everything, I followed it and enjoyed her enthusiasm.

Some quotes will give a favour and an insight into the depth of the writing:

“Astronomy is haunted by the presences of things we can’t see. Astronomy is like loss that way. It’s like love.”
“It’s the happiest moments when you feel the most alone. I was desperate for that day to have some love in it.”
“Only a few centuries ago, we were drawing dragons on our maps to mark the ends of our oceans. Now we have divined something about the weather on a planet that orbits a star in a constellation the Ancient Greeks had thought looked like a harp. There are times when our progress can seem impossible, especially when we remember we are the same species that murders each other for oil and fills our oceans with plastic.”

I was an engineer who worked in construction for 30 years and it was interesting getting the “woman in a man’s world” perspective and so many of her issues were familiar. This is an excellent biography of a woman who achieved much and can be read if you like science but have little actual knowledge. It’s also an honest and heartbreaking look at life, love, loss, and recovery.

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

A beautiful journey through the universe and the life of one of its intrepid and passionate explorers. Seagar’s heartfelt honesty in the face of grief, coupled with her impassioned telling of her journey to discover the wonders of exoplanets make for a compelling combination, that has so much to teach on the nature of both.

a heartfelt memoir of loss and finding meaning through work and community. Seager writes a little more about science than her life itself but it works well, the search for exoplanets and the search for the way to live life after a great loss.

Once I realised that this book was focused on grief as well as space exploration (which I'd thought it was only about) i hesitated to continue .. at this moment grieving is very raw in the world!! ... but I plunged on due to its superb writing craft .. I found myself pulled in and stayed with it .. the Widows group she meets are a heartening gathering of young women who also lost their partners too young.. but of course whenever you lose your partner it's too soon .. her young boys also buoy her up .. gosh .. really good and solid work ...

i hadn't realised this was a memoir before I started reading it. It's not my favourite genre but I enjoyed this book. I don't think it is a great book - the physics bits were a bit boring and the style was quite stilted - but it was easy to read the more interesting bits about her family life. I think if you are interested in physics and astronomy then it might be more for you.

A beautiful memoir a scientific study that is the authors life work.I was drawn in to the authors life sadness her dealing with her her kids her scientific studies. Overall a fascinating read.#netgalley#4thestate

Beautifully written, both awe-inspiring and gut-wrenching, brilliantly unique in its approach to the topics. Really enjoyed.

I loved this book. It's a biography which starts with Sara Seager's childhood in Canada when she going between her loving and wise father and her mother who had remarried a man who was not kind to Sara. A lot of the book focuses on Sara's challenging personal life dealing with bereavement and single parenthood and also her lifelong fascination and drive to learn more about planets, especially those not in our solar system (exoplanets).

Sara's passion to find exoplanets is partly fuelled by her desire to see if there is other life out there. She is very good at explaining how exoplanets can be found and how the process to discover them has evolved in the last few decades. She's wonderful at explaining the science in ways that mean you do not have to be an astrophysicist to understand. Her enthusiasm in the subject is a joy to read.

As her career is just beginning she meets Mike who shares her love of outdoors adventures in Canada. They fall in love and Mike takes on many different roles in the household as Sara is very focussed on her work which is taking her to many of the top places for it in the USA including Princeton, Harvard and MIT. Tragically, after many years of marriage and two sons, Mike becomes terminally ill and dies. Sara writes very eloquently and with a sense of 'realness' about how this affected every aspect of her life. By chance she meets Melissa, who is also a young widow, in the local park and is invited to join the young widows of Concord group that Melissa has gathered around her.

I'm usually reluctant to recommend books on grieving to someone who is in that precise situation as it always seems a little presumptuous that a book will help a process that I am not dealing with personally. But having said that, I would definitely recommend this book as it isn't just about grieving but the parts that are are very real and Sara's determination to somehow move forward shines through.

Fairly recently Sara found out that she was on the autistic spectrum which is maybe not so surprising to some when you consider her immense intellect coupled with her determination to follow her passion of astronomy through thick and thin (and she's had a lot of thin to deal with). I think it came as a quite a surprise to Sara though to find this out in the middle of her 5th decade on earth. She doesn't talk much about this as it's something that happened towards the end of her story so far but I would love to read a book by her on this subject itself as she is very eloquent and very observant and analytical of life around her. I think she could contribute a lot more understanding as to what being on the autistic spectrum means for those on it and for those communicating with those on it..

A book that will stay with me forever.. With thanks to NetGalley and 4th Estate and William Collins for a free copy in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to netgalley.co.uk for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I have to admit that I requested this book thinking I would get something completely different. Unfortnatley I would say that my least favourite genre is space travels but the thing that kept me hooked to the book was the author's heartwarming memoir of coping with the loss of her husband. Overall, I did find the book quite interesting as the author is able to explain what her job is. I strongly recommend this to anyone.

A MIT astrophysicist and professor, Sara Seager has received accolades for her groundbreaking work in looking for life beyond Earth in far flung exoplanets.

But behind the veneer of success, her incredible memoir The Smallest Stars in the Universe, chronicles a life of many challenges she had had to face and overcome: a stepfather with vicious mood swings, whom she called a monster; the unexpected loss of her first husband to cancer; the grief she had to deal with (she did cry a lot especially when she had to say, “my husband died”); being a single mother of two young boys whom she feared being left alone when she had to work out of town; and autism which her father suspected but only diagnosed decades later.

Overcome them she did, with help and lots of love from her own dad, the widow support group that she joined, her colleagues, the few friends she has, and her beloved sons. Above all that she discovered she could find love again.

Seager’s life story as a stargazer, searching and probing the heavens for exoplanets with grit and steely determination, deserves to be read by young people who aspire to be stargazers themselves. She first got started looking at the stars when she was ten. Reading it made me recall poignantly my latent interest in astronomy in my younger days.

What I like about her memoir:
- an honest, deeply personal account of pain, struggles, achievement and joy;
- an insightful account of the life and work of an astrophysicist;
- enjoyable and captivating read.

What’s not to like about the memoir: Even though a technical-minded person myself, I sometimes did get lost in the technical details Seager provides about the projects she did. To reach a wider readership, perhaps the language could be simplified.

Many thanks to #NetGalley for providing me an ARC eBook to read in exchange for a fair review.

An interesting book which managed to simplify some super complex topics for a non scientist such as myself. It was a good read and I felt like I learned from reading this book. I like books that teach me!

I loved this book. I really enjoyed that it was part memoir, part explanation of the work that the writer was working on - when you hear about scientific advancements, you never really stop to consider the life and influences of the person behind them.

The writing was incredibly moving and honest. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading memoirs, there's no need to be interested in astrophysics or science - it's still just as interesting as a life story even if the science goes over your head (like it does mine!)