Mathematics may not be the star of many novels but Apostolos Doxiadis has done the subject a great service in Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture (Faber, 9.99).

In this unusual story, even the layman may grasp some of the exhilaration that pure mathematicians find in the their work.

Uncle Petros was said by his brothers to be the black sheep of the family - one of life's failures, now resigned to playing the odd game of chess and pottering in the garden. But his nephew does not accept this and, because of his own mathematical impulse, gradually learns that Petros was once a celebrated mathematician, who set his heart on solving one of the most famous mathematical problems - Goldbach's Conjecture, which has evaded proof for more than 250 years and which still remains unproven. It may not sound promising material for a novel, but this Greek writer has created an intriguing story out of one man's pride. He gives an insight into the driving force of mathematicians, and imports a little mathematical knowledge along the way.