Notes on Infinity

Taylor shines in her intelligent debut about two Harvard students whose lives are upended when they discover a potential cure for aging. Sophomore Zoe is attracted to fellow organic chemistry major Jack, with whom she works on an extracurricular project in a retired professor’s private lab. There, with Zoe’s help, Jack stumbles upon a way to reverse the effects of aging. In between their exciting breakthroughs, their love lives become increasingly tangled. After Zoe loses her virginity to Jack, she falls for one of his roommates, and Jack invites a potential flame, whose father is a billionaire venture capitalist, to partner with the pair to produce an antiaging drug. Taylor thrills with her crackling and science-heavy depiction of the hothouse startup and its founders’ dizzying ascent into the spotlight. The character work is just as impressive, as Zoe struggles to be accepted as a woman in a male-dominated field (“the part of the scientist was written male”) and Jack strives to overcome his difficult upbringing, having been being raised by his great-grandparents after facing abuse from his single mother’s boyfriends. After Zoe makes a shocking discovery that threatens to bring down their company, the plot ramps up, and readers will race through the pages to see what happens next. This is a winner. Agent: Katie Greenstreet, Paper Literary. (June)