the Book About Blanche And Marie

Much has been written about Marie Curie, the pioneering Polish scientist who won multiple Nobel prizes for her research in the budding field of radiology. In contrast, next to nothing has been written about her assistant, Blanche Wittman, a former inmate of Paris`s atrocious Salpetriere Hospital where she was the star patient for a slew of hysteria doctors. Due to her exposure to radiation, Wittman would eventually have both her legs and one arm amputated. Per Olov Enquist seeks to shed new light on both these women in his novel THE BOOK ABOUT BLANCHE AND MARIE. Enquist imagines that Wittman was secretly working on a study of love, using both her and Curie`s experiences as evidence, and he uses this premise as a means of exploring the women`s passionate emotions and the intersection of love and science. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.