Half Life by Jillian Cantor
Poland, 1891. Maria from early age knew that being mother wasn’t meant for her. Her “mind ached to learn.” And in Russian Poland women were not allowed to study. She is heart-broken when things don’t work out with the love of her life. But her father reminds her about her brilliant mind and that she needs to use it. The word – Sorbonne – is “like a confection for my mind, and my body hummed, alive again…” Then the story splits into imagined and real…
At Sorbonne Marie excels. She is first in her class in physics examination. She is awarded the prestigious Alexandrovitch Scholarship. But she needs a lab to progress with her studies. And that’s when she gets introduced to Pierre Curie, who has a lab and is willing to share it. He is the first man, who genuinely is fascinated by Marie’s work in physics and not looking down at her as other men.
The fictional character of Marya is very interesting too. She is very ambitious in furthering her education. But in Russian Poland women are not allowed to study. So it means that she needs to be part of Flying University – an underground educational initiative. It comes with risks of being discovered. And her husband is more concerned with her safety than with what she craves from life.
In this fictional story, I loved the atmosphere of women gathering together and learning from each other and finding comfort in each other.
In the real story, I loved the equal partnership between Pierre and Marie. He highly respects her as a scientist, thus they are equal partners in the lab. But he also craves to be equal partners in private life, forever.
And the support of her father, who was a teacher himself and believed in education and that women were as capable as men to gain education. That is very touching, the support and encouragement of a parent. And later having a respectful partner.
In both stories, the character of Marie is well-developed. She is hungry for knowledge and it is well-explored. With having very little money or none, she cares for clothes to cover her and not how she looks. What she cares about is her hungry mind, which she wants to feed with knowledge, experiments, and meaningful conversations.
The writing is very engaging. Every word and every sentence matter and are significant. The great skill of writing shines constantly, for example as chapters alternate regularly between two Maries, in the real one Pierre dies because of an accident with a horse drawn carriage and in fictional story there is a different outcome. It contrasts effortlessly with different outcomes. Thus, exploring human nature of questioning what-if I did this and that differently. My favorite part is when physics gets mixed with marriage proposal. It made me smile. As Pierre keeps proposing marriage to constantly declining Marie, he almost convinces her with “lodestone, the most magnetic of all the materials (…). The magnet cannot stay away…”
This story brings an incredible journey of Marie Curie, who was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize and to teach at Sorbonne among other accomplishments. And a richly imagined story of Marie, who picks love over studying at Sorbonne as she believes she can also achieve that in her native country with a bit more difficulty.
Wonderfully dimensional characters that engage from the first pages. Writing that evokes time and place. How challenging it was for a woman to be smart and smarter than some men. Or to live in a country that forbade women to study. A spellbinding story with brilliant writing and amazing talent in crafting such an intriguing and inspiring story.
A few years ago, I was searching for a novel about Marie Sklodowska Curie. What a pleasure it was to see this book and by the author I’m familiar with and enjoy her writing.
Release date: 23 March 2021
Source: Harper
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