The Other Einstein

By: Marie Benedict

Narrated by: Mozhan Marnò

In the tradition of The Paris Wife and Mrs. Poe, The Other Einstein offers us a window into a brilliant, fascinating woman whose light was lost in Einstein's enormous shadow. This is the story of Einstein's wife, a brilliant physicist in her own right, whose contribution to the special theory of relativity is hotly debated and may have been inspired by her own profound and very personal insight.

Mitza Maric has always been a little different from other girls. Most twenty-year-olds are wives by now, not studying physics at an elite Zurich university with only male students trying to outdo her clever calculations. But Mitza is smart enough to know that, for her, math is an easier path than marriage. And then fellow student Albert Einstein takes an interest in her, and the world turns sideways. Theirs becomes a partnership of the mind and of the heart, but there might not be room for more than one genius in a marriage.

Fascinating story, great narration

Marie Benedict's The Other Einstein was a fascinating read, and one that is significantly adding to my TBR pile--with nonfiction, for a change! (Lots of great suggestions in the author's note at the end--thanks, Ms. Benedict!)

The author freely admits that her book is a fictionalization of Mileva Maric Einstein's life and that she makes use of much speculation (especially with regards to exactly how much of a contribution the first Mrs. Einstein made to her husband's famous Theory of Relativity--I'd love to think that her version is the truth, but it's probably a bit of a stretch and I doubt it could ever be proved), and as such I kind of hoped that Albert wasn't as much of a, well, b@stard as he seems to be in the book. Though I can still hope that at least one pretty jarring scene is completely fictional, Princeton University has been kind enough to publish volumes of Einstein's writings and correspondence and their English translations online, and I've now read the memorandum myself that made me gasp out loud when I read that part of the book (18 July 1014, Memorandum to Mileva Einstein-Maric, with comments in Volume 8--don't read it until after you've read the book, though!) and then the next few letters after that one, and...just whoa. I'm not sure I'll ever hear the name "Albert Einstein" again and be able to think purely happy thoughts about him. How can a man be so scientifically brilliant and so spectacularly not brilliant in his personal life?

(Interesting side note from the letters, not the book, since Mileva wouldn't have known this: Albert wouldn't let his second wife/cousin(!) Elsa be there when he spent time with his sons from his first marriage, because "it is not right to have the children see their father with a woman other than their own mother" yet he had no such scruples about divorcee Elsa's children from her first marriage spending time with their mother and a man who wasn't their own father...double-standard much? Oh, and just to really make it next to impossible to look up to him as a father figure and husband--he apparently briefly considered proposing to Elsa's 20-year-old daughter Ilsa instead... Yeah. He's a prince among men. But a brilliant scientist.)

Anyway.

Though the story was a bit slow in parts, overall I quite enjoyed it. I look forward to both reading more about Mileva (and her children!) and more from Ms. Benedict in the future. The narration was excellent; I much preferred having someone else do all of that fancy pronouncing rather than me butchering it in my head ;)

Rating: 4 stars / B+

Engaging

This book is about Mileva Maric, Albert Einstein’s first wife. She also was a mathematician. The book is a historical novel so Benedict has leeway in telling the story. For example, how much did she contribute to Einstein’s Theory of Relativity? Benedict traces Mileva’s life from childhood to the end.

The book is well written, and I enjoyed it while fully aware I was reading historical fiction and not a biography. After reading numerous biographies of Einstein, I was somewhat familiar with Mileva. In many ways this makes history more interesting. If you are looking for something different, I can recommend this book.

The book is eight hours and thirty minutes. Mozhan Marno does a good job narrating the book. Marno is an actress and voice-over artist.

Wonderful!

A jewel . Well written, great research book
One of a kind, very worth the time

I just didn't know about the other Einstein

I really enjoyed the book. it's wasn't a page turner but a good read. I will recommend it to others.

Eye Opening

Loved hearing the backstory of Albert Einstein’s first wife. Reader does an amazing job with narration.