The Exclusion Principle
A Novel
by Leona Gom

Avey Fleming is an Edmonton grad student given a rare opportunity to do research at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope on the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Driven and ambitious, he hunts feverishly for an extrasolar planet, a discovery which would secure his future in the fiercely competitive field of astronomy. As he relies opportunistically on the work of a famous astronomer who died before he could complete his project, Avey is aghast to find he must share his office at the Joint Astronomy Centre with the man's son, who is on the same hunt. Despite their competition, they become friends, but this makes the betrayal, when it comes, particularly bitter.

Kate has accompanied her husband Avey to Hawaii, and is a highly intelligent underachiever whose acute perceptions of events stand in stark counterpoint to Avey's. Kate has never quite overcome the death of her first husband, and when Hale, a charismatic native Hawaiian, evokes memories of the past, the two begin a dangerous relationship. Grimly nationalistic, Hale is obsessed with the idea that his island is overrun with things and people that don't belong. Equally obsessed with Kate, his manipulative behaviour changes the lives of Avey and Kate, both in Hawaii and, ten years later, in Canada.

Gom gives us a privileged window onto the world of astronomy. Sharp and witty, filled with perceptive observance of human nature, The Exclusion Principle evokes a singular impression of layered worlds that lingers long after the final page is turned.