A Mind of Her Own
By: Paula McLain
Narrated by: Hillary Huber
Length: 1 hr and 15 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 02-28-19
Language: English
Publisher: Audible Original
Genre: Fiction, Historical
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0 Overall; Story 3.75; Narration 4.0.
About This Audible Original
From Paula McLain, the best-selling author of The Paris Wife and Love and Ruin, comes a breathtakingly intimate story of the brilliant, willful Marie Curie—a young woman in Paris on the verge of her greatest discovery yet: herself.
Marie Sklodowska, 25, is studying science at the Sorbonne—one of the only universities in the world that has begun to admit women. A thousand miles from her native Poland, with no money and the odds stacked against any woman daring to pursue a career in such a rigorous field, Marie throws herself into her studies. She’s certain that to succeed in a man’s world, she will have to go it alone.
Her meticulous plans get thrown slightly off-course when Marie attracts the attention of an accomplished physicist, himself on the precipice of greatness. Pierre Curie, famous for his work on symmetry, believes he has found in Marie an equal who shares his devotion to scientific discovery. He offers to help with her work, and soon begins to court her. But to Marie, men have always been an obstacle, love a distraction from her goals. She hasn’t come this far to let either stand in the way of her dreams—dreams Pierre insists they can share.
In A Mind of Her Own, McLain taps into the luminous mind and complex heart of a singular woman caught between order and chaos, science and love in the period just before the world would learn her name.
©2019 Paula McLain (P)2019 Audible Originals, LLC.
By: Paula McLain
Narrated by: Hillary Huber
Length: 1 hr and 15 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 02-28-19
Language: English
Publisher: Audible Original
Genre: Fiction, Historical
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0 Overall; Story 3.75; Narration 4.0.
About This Audible Original
From Paula McLain, the best-selling author of The Paris Wife and Love and Ruin, comes a breathtakingly intimate story of the brilliant, willful Marie Curie—a young woman in Paris on the verge of her greatest discovery yet: herself.
Marie Sklodowska, 25, is studying science at the Sorbonne—one of the only universities in the world that has begun to admit women. A thousand miles from her native Poland, with no money and the odds stacked against any woman daring to pursue a career in such a rigorous field, Marie throws herself into her studies. She’s certain that to succeed in a man’s world, she will have to go it alone.
Her meticulous plans get thrown slightly off-course when Marie attracts the attention of an accomplished physicist, himself on the precipice of greatness. Pierre Curie, famous for his work on symmetry, believes he has found in Marie an equal who shares his devotion to scientific discovery. He offers to help with her work, and soon begins to court her. But to Marie, men have always been an obstacle, love a distraction from her goals. She hasn’t come this far to let either stand in the way of her dreams—dreams Pierre insists they can share.
In A Mind of Her Own, McLain taps into the luminous mind and complex heart of a singular woman caught between order and chaos, science and love in the period just before the world would learn her name.
©2019 Paula McLain (P)2019 Audible Originals, LLC.
Review:
Marie Sklodowska had to struggle to get to study at university and had to struggle against male bias to prove her abilities. She is helped by another female student who helps her get a grant and then Marie gets a lab job with her primary professor. When Marie is introduced to the accomplished scientist, Pierre Curie, she is not inclined to relinquish her hard-fought gains for the sake of romance. She doesn’t want to be relegated to the home but wants to continue her scientific career. What will it take for gentle, unassuming Pierre to convince Marie to share a life with him?
At first glance, this appeared to be a short biographical sketch of Marie Curie… but it is presented as historical fiction. The story shares a short slice of Marie’s life. Ms. McLain presents Marie’s experience at University and her meeting with and courtship by her future husband. The picture of the times is well done, clearly showing a man’s world before women were readily welcome in higher learning and in careers thought to be only for men. Marie’s internal reluctance to romance made sense considering her background and mindset. I do recommend this to readers with the warning that it is a light romance in a slice of fictional biography.
Audio Notes: Hillary Huber does a good job with the narration. Her accent fit the period and the location for a solid performance. I enjoyed the quick listen.
Source: March 2019 Audible Original Free pick. This qualifies for 2020TBR, 2020Audiobook and 2020Alphabet goals.
