The Other Einstein
by Marie Benedict 304 pages
I
don’t know much about scientist Albert Einstein except that he won a Nobel
Prize for his Theory of Relativity. I even read, some time ago, Driving Mr. Albert: A Road Trip Across
America with Einstein’s Brain by Michael Paterniti. All that I remember
from that nonfiction piece is that Paterniti, along with the man who performed
the autopsy, drove from New Jersey to California with Einstein’s brain to give
to Einstein’s granddaughter. It was rather silly, if memory serves me
correctly.
So
one might wonder why I would be interested in this piece of historical fiction.
Basically, I really, really, really enjoy the women-behind-the-men genre that
is so popular right now. Other books in this genre that reads might find
fascinating are The Paris Wife and The Aviator’s Wife.
In
this work, we get to meet Mileva “Mitza” Maric. She is a brilliant woman,
studying to be a physicist in the early 20th century. All her life,
her parents have encouraged Mitza to pursue a life of the mind. Not only did
they recognize her intelligence, but she had a physical deformity that they
believed deemed her unmarriageable.
The
story opens in 1896 as Mitza and her father are walking through the humid, “foggy,
Zurich streets to the Swiss Federal Polytechnic campus.” She is the only female
enrolled to study physics. There are five men in her class, one of whom is
Albert Einstein.
The
first 100 pages of the novel drag. It seems most of the scenes are repetitive and
the science gets in the way. They are about science, Mitza’s determination and brilliance,
and the two’s attraction toward each other.
When
Mitza and Albert go on a romantic getaway to Lake Como in Italy, the novel
takes off. Albert comes off as a royal a**hole. I wonder how much of that is
really true. But, this is biographical
fiction.
The Other Einstein receives 4 out
of 5 stars in Julie’s world.
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