According to Katherine, the narrator of Catherine Chung's new novel, the 10th muse was the youngest of the semidivine sisters and chose to tell her own stories rather than be a source of inspiration for men. Because of this, the 10th muse was stripped of her immortality. A symbol of female creativity and empowerment, her bold spirit hovers over The Tenth Muse, a sweeping tale of identity, gender and genius.

Katherine was raised in a small Midwestern town as the daughter of a Chinese immigrant and a white American veteran of World War II. Already ostracized because of her mixed parentage, Katherine is further scorned by her classmates after her mother abandons the family. Though Katherine is clearly a gifted math student, her teachers don't acknowledge her abilities, and on the cusp of college graduation, she is brutally tricked by a classmate who claims her work as his own. At the same time, her father's plans to remarry force Katherine to uncover the tangled truth behind her parents' relationship.

Katherine establishes herself in the male-dominated world of advanced mathematics and becomes involved with a charismatic older professor, Peter Hall. But as a woman, she has trouble getting recognized for her accomplishments, and much to Peter's dismay, she accepts a fellowship in Germany. Pursuing an unsolved mathematical hypothesis draws Katherine further into the mystery of her lineage, and in Bonn, Germany, she uncovers a theorem that promises to lead her closer to the truth. Other characters' complicated stories of duplicity, innocence and sacrifice are echoed in Katherine's experiences of stolen research and betrayed trust. Though she finds some answers and even some remaining family in Germany, she also accepts that life has fewer tidy endings than any mathematical formula.

Similar to the way she used Korean folk tales in her first novel, Forgotten Country, Chung uses the history and language of mathematics in The Tenth Muse to explore how the past is inextricably tied to the present. Her writing has a beautiful clarity, and the novel has an epic feel, sweeping between decades and continents without ever losing sight of the human lives at stake. This is a timely story about a woman searching for her identity in an inhospitable environment and emerging scarred but triumphant.

Hoping to conquer the Riemann hypothesis, one of math's great unsolved problems, brilliant mathematician Katherine turns to a theorem that might also solve the issue of her identity. From Granta New Voice Chung (Forgotten Country). With a 75,000-copy first printing.

Chung's second novel (after Forgotten Country) presents a unique take on mathematics, a topic the author once dabbled in, as protagonist Katherine fights to establish herself as a mathematician in the 1960s while pursuing her graduate degree at MIT. Katherine's first-person account begins innocuously as she narrates her life as the biracial only child to a Chinese immigrant mother and a Caucasian American war hero father. Life gets challenging when her mother leaves the family before Katherine begins the tenth grade and even harder when her father remarries. Learning a secret about her parents compels Katherine to flee for Bonn, Germany, leaving behind former professor and lover Peter. Chung's development of key characters is strong, her light prose flows easily throughout, and she successfully represents a young woman attempting to find her identity and stand out in a field dominated by men. Yet while the narrative is engaging, the plotlines run in varied directions as the mysteries behind Katherine's heritage start to unfold, and Katherine's voice could have been stronger and more inspirational. VERDICT Though perhaps too tidy and underdeveloped, this work has merit and will appeal to individuals looking for a breezy summer read over more realistic fiction. [See Prepub Alert, 12/3/18.]—Shirley Quan, Orange Cty. P.L., Santa Ana, CA

Chung's impressive, poignant second novel (after Forgotten Country) explores the intersections of intellectual and familial legacies. Nearing the end of her life but still on the verge of solving the elusive Riemann hypothesis, Katherine is a noted mathematician who did her graduate work in the mid-20th century, at a time when women scholars were still a rarity. As Katherine recounts the highs and lows of her academic and romantic pursuits, she reflects on the various discoveries she's pursued—both in her field of study and into her family history—inquiries that became inextricable while Katherine was pursuing her doctorate at MIT and learning revelations about her parentage following her father's heart attack. Having grown up believing herself the daughter of a white father and a Chinese mother, Katherine is stunned to learn the truth of her family history. The stories of betrayal and sacrifice also end up informing her professional work in surprising ways through a storyline involving stolen math proofs. Chung persuasively interweaves myths and legends with the real-world stories of lesser-known women mathematicians and of WWII on both the European and Asian fronts. The legacy that Katherine inherits may defy the kinds of elegant proofs to which mathematicians aspire, but Chung's novel boldly illustrates that truth and beauty can reside even amid the messiest solutions. (June)