'1000 Novels Everyone Must Read', The Guardian. Click here and scroll down to The Wave Theory of Angels

Shortlisted for the 2006 Sunburst Award .

MacLeod’s novel ingeniously combines medieval theology with 21st-century physics. Her plot… set in Beauvais in 1284, concerns Giles, a woodcarver, whose work adorns the new cathedral. Giles’s beautiful elder daughter, Christina, falls into a death-like trance from which neither he, nor his younger daughter, Marguerite, can wake her. Moving forward eight centuries to 2001, the story is that of Giles Carver, a physicist specialising in wave theory at a research centre in Chicago. His daughter Christina is also in a coma … Parallels are drawn between the medieval and modern worlds, and even the religious fanaticism of the former is echoed in the American episodes. A cathedral tower falls in one story, the twin towers in the other, without seeming glib or contrived.
The Times

…a fascinating exploration of the point where science and fantasy appear to meet. The Independent

Part thriller, part philosophical treatise, The Wave Theory of Angels explores some intriguing ideas... There’s more than a hint here of Umberto Eco’s ambition…. Time Out

…a daring investigation of medieval philosophy, modern-day physics, and the relation of both to faith and desire... [MacLeod] has an engaged delight in the stuff of life... Times Literary Supplement

The Wave Theory of Angels is utterly delightful, beautifully written...
Alberto Manguel

The Wave Theory of Angels is a bold and beautiful dismantling of the linearity and fixedness of time and space… [MacLeod] has achieved an enchanting, playful and, at times, dark probing of the limits of our knowledge. It's a novel that leaves us wondering if we will not forever continue to uncover further ranks of angels, other dimensions of time and space. The Globe and Mail

The Wave Theory of Angels … is a compelling story that manages a subtle delivery… The tale is gripping, the transitions are flawless and the characters are well-drawn. MacLeod takes a risk with this novel and succeeds. The Montreal Gazette

In Alison MacLeod's The Wave Theory of Angels, the stories of two families, seemingly separated by centuries are woven together in a provocative exploration of human relationships, high energy physics, and the power of the imagination… Either story is compelling on its own: braided together, they make a complex, fascinating narrative. Quill & Quire

Knowing your experimental physics will be helpful when delving into The Wave Theory of Angels, although science plays second fiddle throughout this work of imagination, where creativity reigns supreme... The Calgary Herald

Please read more with Alison's essay about the Wave Theory of Angels.

Read an extract from The Wave Theory of Angels, Chapter One