Half Life

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In 1891 Poland, Marie Curie, then Marya Sklodowska, was engaged to mathematician Kazimierz Zorawski, but their engagement ended when his mother deemed her too poor. Heartbroken, Marya moved to Paris to study chemistry and physics at the Sorbonne, eventually becoming the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and transforming science. But what if she had chosen differently? What if she married Kazimierz at twenty-four, never attended the Sorbonne, and led a life of domesticity in Russian Poland, where women's education was limited? This narrative intertwines Marie Curie's true story with the fictional life of Marya Zorawska, exploring lost loves and unfulfilled destinies while addressing themes of loyalty, identity, gender, class, motherhood, and knowledge. Through contrasting versions of Marya's life, the novel poses critical questions about the impact of denied opportunities on a brilliant scientific mind. It examines how the choices of one extraordinary woman and her relationships could have altered the trajectory of science, history, and the world in both significant and subtle ways.