Half Life is a brilliant fictional dual narrative of the life of Marie Curie. The year is 1891 and Marie Curie, born Marya Sklodowska has a monumental decision to make. 

To fulfil her dream of studying science, she is working as a governess for a family in Szczuki. She has to get out of Russian Poland to get a university education because women weren’t allowed to attend universities in Poland. She plans to go to Paris and be with her older sister, for which she is trying to save enough money. While working, she falls in love with Kazimierz Zorawska, the son of the same family she is working for. Unfortunately, Kazimierz confesses that he cannot marry her because his family won’t allow it. Heart-broken, she immediately decides to go to Paris after her father proposes to help her financially. 

At the train station, when she is about to embark upon this journey, Kazimierz suddenly appears, begging her to stay. He apologizes and makes a promise to marry her, reminding her of their love and all the dreams they’ve dreamt together. Marya is torn. One on hand, she wants nothing but to spend her life with this man, whom she loves so much. But that would mean she has to give up Paris and science. She has a choice and she makes it.

Thus begins a narrative of the two roads ahead of Marya. One that she took, another that she could have taken. The story parallelly takes you into the lives of Marya, the scientist, who eventually became Madam Curie, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. And Marya Zorawska, who chose love over science and started a domesticated life in Russian Poland.

How did it make me feel?

Absolutely amazing! I loved both parts; The fascinating life of Madam Curie, based on historical facts. The alternate life of Marya, a fictional account of how her life would have been if she had made a different choice. What I loved the most was how both lives seem to touch similar points in their journeys and how different their interactions are. I was fascinated, constantly comparing and analyzing these two versions of the same person.

This is an important story to tell. Apart from giving the readers a close view of the life of the famous scientist, it shows how in life there are so many choices and no matter the choice we make, there will always be what-ifs. However, owning our decisions and making the best out of them is always the way to go. Every path is significant, no matter the choice.

This is a brilliant work by Jillian Cantor and I highly, highly recommend it. 

Half Life is releasing March 23, 2021. You can get your copy from Amazon. If you use my link to buy, I may get a small commission at NO additional cost to you! It will help me keep my blog running! 🙂 Thank you for your support!