IN ASCENSION by Martin MacInnes

4 stars 

This book starts out slow, with its main character, Leigh, unhappily growing up in water-logged Rotterdam with a volatile water-engineer father who repeatedly beats her. Leigh’s Mom who checks out and offers no protection to Leigh, instead escaping to her work as a university math professor or claiming long lasting migraines. Leigh’s younger sister draws none of the abuse, and neither her sister or Mom ever want to talk with Leigh about the abuse, even as her sister and Leigh reach adulthood.

Leigh, entranced from childhood by the water that surrounds Rotterdam and its undersea world, pursues university studies in marine biology, and goes on to specialize studying ancient creatures in all the world’s seas. When a deep vent gets discovered in the bottom of the Atlantic ocean, Leigh joins the scientific investigatory team hoping to glean insights into some of earth’s earliest life forms.

Suddenly the novel jumps into high gear, changing from a morose biography into a sci-fi thriller. Next thing you know, Leigh’s at a secret space facility in the desert working at a high-funded lab to figure out how to grow sea algae on a spaceship as a backbone food supply for astronauts.

While I found the space exploration story fascinating, I wearied of the constant internal angst and unresolved ruminations by Leigh about her father’s abuse that she never finds a way to talk about with her mother or sister or even a therapist.

The sci-fi part of the ending left me thinking a hard about what it all meant! A great thing!

Thanks to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.