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Writer's pictureDave Cenker

The Housekeeper and the Professor


I've always been that person who is on the lookout for secrets hidden in plain sight. The arrival of a particular number in a moment of serendipity. That song coming on the radio with impeccable timing. Looking up at the clock and finding the exact same time as the day before. Each of these things are ordinary occurrences that would happen with or without the awareness that allows us to peek behind the curtain and see something more.


That is what this book did for me. It is simple and elegant while being extremely profound. It wasn't until I finished this short novel that I realized none of the characters have actual names. It feels appropriate given the story shared is about a man whose memory lasts for no more than eighty minutes. It's another one of those ordinary facts that somehow becomes extraordinary when we take a moment to ponder it.


I must make another admission. I'm fascinated by patterns and relationships. This book is laced with mathematical equations, derivations, and facts that complement everything I've shared up to this point. Numbers exist around us everywhere in daily life, and it's easy for us to take them for granted or only appreciate their value in practical applications. But there's a poetic language to numbers and their relationship to each other that parallels our emotional human existence in a compelling way.


When the author revealed the magic of amicable and perfect numbers as a part of her eloquent prose, I felt this buzz of enlightenment and excitement in my mind, a deeper understanding and appreciation for a new discovery. It doesn't matter whether that knowledge allows me to perform some daily function in a more efficient way. It's just the recognition of something new and previously unknown that stimulates something at my core.


And then, that same explanation was immediately followed by an undeniable and strong connection between two human beings because of this new shared information. That buzz of adrenaline on an emotional level was different but complementary, and sensing those two different feelings, intellectual insight and emotional connection, in the same span of time, helped me appreciate how the world is filled with infinite opportunities to become more aware of the beauty around us, both with our physical senses and those we can't possible describe.


This book's overarching story line that deals with memory loss helped me recall and think about some words I've previously written as part of my own fiction. There are so many similarities and differences between the idea of leaving a legacy and never wanting to be forgotten. They might sound the same at first glance, but there is so much more depth to explore when we take a moment to stop and think about it. And that's where this book truly shines. Contemplative moments like this happened over and over again while reading this novel. Pieces of the story helped me reflect on moments or experiences in my own life that allowed me to see things from a different perspective.


The professor in this story has a fascination with the elegant beauty of prime numbers. Is it coincidence or fate that there are eleven chapters in this book? Does it really matter, or is it more important that I've simply become aware of this observation? The world is a beautifully mysterious place waiting for us to pull back the curtain and glimpse the magic it beholds. Perhaps this novel can do for you what it has done for me, opened my eyes to the potential enchantment of every singular experience in our daily lives, if we allow it.


Dave’s Rating: ☕️☕️☕️☕️

 

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