A Different Purpose: A Martin Quint Novel

by Stephen D Senturia

Overview

Professor Martin Quint's marriage to Jenny has been compromised by a sexual indiscretion. Can trust, once shattered, ever be restored? In A Different Purpose, a skilled therapist guides the troubled couple into exploring past traumas amid a sudden tripling of Martin's academic load and an unnerving racial incident at his son's school. They discover that to blame is easy, but to understand, and, hence, to forgive, is not. In this, the final volume of The Martin Quint Trilogy, some questions are answered, but others arise that have no answer.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781039123571
Publisher:	FriesenPress
Publication date:	09/23/2021
Series:	Martin Quint
Pages:	294
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.66(d)

About the Author

Stephen D. Senturia spent 36 years as a Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is the author of three prominent textbooks, several hundred scientific papers and a clutch of patents. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2003. Since retiring from his life in high technology, he has turned to fiction, exploring in The Martin Quint Trilogy the hopes, the realities, and the stresses of academic life.

Editorial Reviews

05/09/2022

Building and rebuilding are at the heart of the thoughtful final novel in Senturia’s Martin Quint trilogy, which finds its protagonist still facing challenges both in his private and work life. Martin labors on establishing a new school at Bottlesworth college while satisfying the demands of his energizing yet challenging benefactor as well as the bureaucracy of his college, and on assessing a teaching method. At same time, he and his wife Jenny try to mend their marriage and broken trust. Through therapy, they realize how much the past afflicts their relationship, and strive to heal it. Despite their differences, the couple must pull together in order to deal with unexpected crises–including a shocking racial incident in the boarding school of Andrew, Martin's son from a previous relationship, that targets his best friend Lavelle, one of the few Black students at the school.

MIT professor Senturia doesn't just share a glimpse into the backstage of the academic world he knows so well, as through Martin and the kids he delves into urgent educational questions–from treatment of racial incidents in school to what would make a new program truly cutting edge. Such serious consideration of the realities of education is rare in contemporary fiction, even novels about academia, and his keen understanding of the complexities shine through, though at times narrative momentum is diminished by Senturia’s interest in technical matters.

Senturia also focuses on exploration of relationships, especially the reconstruction of damaged ones, observing through Martin: “This is what his entire career in science had led him to believe, that there were discoverable truths, objective truths that could be analyzed, verified. But life doesn’t offer those kinds of truths.” Such wisdom—and a welcome sense of humanity and hopefulness—distinguishes the novel, though at times a lack of nuance weighs on the story. The happy yet very open ending is satisfying, though it will leave fans of serious contemporary fiction eager for more.

Takeaway: In this striking, hopeful novel, a professor endeavors to build a new program– and rebuild his damaged marriage.

Great for fans of: John Williams’s Stoner, Jane Smiley’s Moo.

Production grades Cover: B Design and typography: B Illustrations: N/A Editing: C Marketing copy: B

BookLife Reviews