Kara Gnodde’s debut novel, The Theory of (Not Quite) Everything, follows two siblings, Art and Mimi Brotherton, bonded together by the grief of the untimely deaths of their parents. The intense loss materialised differently in both siblings. While Mimi dedicated herself to looking after her brother, Art’s life was consumed by solving the mathematical equation p = Np. Now, in the present day, the Brothertons’ sibling bond is put to the test when Mimi decides she’s ready to shake up her unfulfilling life and finally find love. Their relationship is tested again when Art becomes increasingly suspicious of Frank, the man Mimi is falling head over heels for.

I found Kara Gnodde’s story of grief and love within a broken family fascinating, although I struggled to maintain my interest in the mystery and romance elements of her story. The chapters skipped between time periods and between different narrative voices. This made it hard for me to invest in the characters. It was also difficult to understand why characters acted in certain ways due to elements of their storylines being kept from the reader until the last few pages of the book.

Despite some issues I had with the structure of The Theory of (Not Quite) Everything, there are many poignant insights into the modern world. Gnodde’s explorations of the difficulties of online dating and the never-ending battle with grief, I found especially perceptive.

Reviewed by Kayla Sawyer

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kara Gnodde was born in Johannesburg and raised on a diet of Dr Seuss and no TV. After graduating from the University of Cape Town, she joined Saatchi & Saatchi in London as a strategic planner – work that required head and heart, her favorite kind.

She lived in Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore before settling back in the UK with her husband and three children. A discussion on the radio about a maths problem that could change the world. Perhaps it just helped keep her desk tidy, gave her a place to start The Theory of (Not Quite) Everything, her debut novel.

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