I am new to Netgalley. I never expected that the very first book I reviewed on this platform would be worthy of 5 stars. But this book truly deserves it. I will never forget Custis and the full-circle that his life’s journey took me - pulling me through every spectrum of emotions along the way. Thank you for sharing his story with me, and for allowing me to share my honest review. This book deeply touched me. Highly recommended!

This book is what they call a “sweeping saga” of love and heartbreak spanning over decades.

The story begins in the late 1800s and continues into the mid-1950s. It follows Custis, a Black boy who, while escaping his tormentors (who are hunting him down to beat him up because they find out that he knows how to read), is left for dead. He is discovered by Sarah, a White girl who lives on a nearby ranch with her father, Martin. Sarah and her family, including their housekeeper and other ranch staff, rescue Custis and nurse him back to health. Despite the great risk to themselves, the family looks after him. The story then takes us through Custis and Sarah’s lives as they grow up on the ranch. Over the years, their friendship blooms, and they fall in love with each other, although they don’t realize (Sarah) or admit it (Custis) to each other. Eventually, Custis moves to Ohio, where he enrolls in Wilson Place College. By the time he finishes his education, he receives news that Sarah is engaged to another man, Lucas. When Custis returns to the ranch, he admits his love to Sarah, who reciprocates his feelings. Knowing that they would not be able to marry and live freely as a biracial couple, Custis makes a plan to go to New York and pass as a white man. He believes this will allow him not only to marry and live freely with Sarah but also to enroll in the Whites Only Centennial College, where he hopes to gain access to their well-equipped laboratory and continue working on his medical invention. However, things don’t go as planned, and Sarah ends up marrying Lucas. Custis goes through his own ups and downs, succeeding in building his scanning machine but being betrayed by his partner and friend to the University. Upon discovering that Custis is a Black man, the University rescinds his admission and access, and the Nobel Committee withdraws his nomination for the Nobel Prize.

If you ever feel like your life is a bit too predictable, just remember Custis and his rollercoaster of a life. From being left for dead to almost winning a Nobel Prize, and everything in between, his story is a reminder that life can be full of unexpected twists and turns.

Things that I liked about the book:
- The characters, including Custis, Sarah, Martin, Preston, and even Mary the housekeeper, have depth, and the author has fleshed them out well.
- The genuine warmth and affection between Martin and Custis.
- The way race and education are addressed.
- Details of life on the ranch. The author’s research shines in the descriptions of the ranch life shown to us.

Things I did not like and or did not make sense:
- All through Part I, Custis’ blackness is emphasized and how he was treated because of it. Then suddenly in Part II (or was it Part III), Custis talks about going to NY and trying to pass as a white man. This transition felt abrupt and confusing. How is it that no one in the South ever doubted that he was black, not just when he was a kid, but also when he came back from New York to the ranch and went back to confront Lucas (the guy at the stable refuses to give him a horse saying he is black), but at the same time he feels it is possible to build reasonable doubt in the minds of NYers and try to pass. I get that NY at the time was teeming with immigrants from various parts of the world, but still ….
- I liked the short images at the start of each chapter. For the most part they were generic stock images of a clock, a train, a field or a fence. So, it was weird to suddenly be hit by a picture of a stocky man with a dog – supposedly, Andoe and his dog. Why was Andoe given this special honor? Throughout the book, I had built images of all the characters in my mind (including Andoe’s), and then bam, out of nowhere, this image of Andoe.
- Speaking of Andoe, what was with him going into the University wearing a kilt. That felt out of the blue and unnecessary.
- Still speaking of Andoe, there is no hint of his Irish roots in his initial appearances when he is serving Custis and Preston at the pub. But all of a sudden, he is full of “Ayes” when he is speaking with Custis at his home.
- And still speaking of Andoe, when he is telling Custis about his background, he mentions that he was born in America. However, while recounting the story of how his parents came to America from Ireland, he mentions that his father got into a cargo ship from Ireland after his mother died during the famine. So how was he born..spooky!
- At one point, it is mentioned that Custis has been in NY for 10 years. Apparently, Sarah married Lucas because she was pregnant by him right after Custis went to NY. However, at the same time, the book says her eldest daughter is 8. The maths doesn’t add up.
- The transition to the post-World War II era felt very abrupt with no logical or well-built/ stated transition.

A few minor typos:
o He had six souls to protest - three on the inside the house and three on the outside (Page 99)
o It all so irrelevant now (Page 149)

I was curious to know the reason behind the title. Some research on the web revealed that it’s a play on the “world of sound”. Custis uses sounds waves to get his machine to finally work, the machine which is a central part of this book. And the fact that in so many ways, Custis and Sarah’s lives keep colliding with each other – whether it is the way they first collide into each other’s lives when Sarah finds Custis, or the way it collides when Lucas comes into the picture, or the way it collides away when they lose touch with each other the last time he goes to the ranch.

All in all, I liked the book and would rate it at 3.5. For now, I am going to round it up to 4. But over time, as I let the story keep settling into my mind, I have a feeling I might revise the rating to 3.

I liked this novel.
I really enjoyed in getting to know Custis. He was a good man and only wanted what everyone else does in life.
I loved that He worked with horses and I learned a lot. Some of it was even a refresher for me.
Sarah is an excellent character. I loved her patience with Custis and their friendship...well, I liked where they went with it above all odds.
The author described everything so well that I felt like I was there. I enjoy traveling back in time and to see and feel what these fictional people might be like in real.life.
I hated to say goodbye. I finished this book in one evening because it was very good. Custis wouldn't let me put his story down until I finished. What a story it was!
5 stars for keeping me interested all the way through. I highly recommend this.
My thanks for a copy of this book. I was NOT required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine.

This was my first NetGalley book. And I was pleasantly surprised.
I loved the characters, it was refreshing to have some good people in a book that covered this period of history.
Everything was so beautifully described without being overdone. I truly feel like I watched a movie not read a book.
I struggled with understanding how a man that passed for years was immediately told to step off the sidewalk the moment he arrived in North Carolina? I finally justified it by deciding New York was more diverse in foreign ethnicities, and didn’t see everyone as black or white. And perhaps Custis reverted to carrying himself poorly after the dejection?
I am definitely searching out the author’s first book to read next.
This new book is not in Goodreads database, but when it is added I will certainly share my review there.