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A review by justjoel
The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict
2.0
The Other Einstein is a fictionalized account of the relationship between Mitza Maric and Albert Einstein. A brilliant mathematician and scientist, Mitza turned away from a promising future to become the first Mrs. Albert Einstein.
I read this to fulfill the prompt of “ A novel based on a real person “ for the 2018 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge.
While Mitza was a real person, and many of the pivotal events in the novel are based on actual events, a lot is supposition and speculation. These events—even the entirely fictionalized ones—are what makes the book special. But there are far more things that detract from it.
The romance and the way the author chose to tell it were BORING. Literally, you could take any tale of a woman conflicted between a man and a career and insert the names of famous people as the characters and the result would be the bulk of this book.
I really wanted to like this more. I wanted to feel more for this woman that was overshadowed by her spouse due to cultural expectations (not entirely uncommon even now, over a century later). Instead I felt she consistently made bad choices, and I constantly wanted to ask, “Well, what did you THINK would happen?”
Overall, I found it disappointing and lacking. It was a generic doomed romance with the names of famous people attached. That’s all.
2 out of 5 stars.
I read this to fulfill the prompt of “ A novel based on a real person “ for the 2018 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge.
While Mitza was a real person, and many of the pivotal events in the novel are based on actual events, a lot is supposition and speculation. These events—even the entirely fictionalized ones—are what makes the book special. But there are far more things that detract from it.
The romance and the way the author chose to tell it were BORING. Literally, you could take any tale of a woman conflicted between a man and a career and insert the names of famous people as the characters and the result would be the bulk of this book.
I really wanted to like this more. I wanted to feel more for this woman that was overshadowed by her spouse due to cultural expectations (not entirely uncommon even now, over a century later). Instead I felt she consistently made bad choices, and I constantly wanted to ask, “Well, what did you THINK would happen?”
Overall, I found it disappointing and lacking. It was a generic doomed romance with the names of famous people attached. That’s all.
2 out of 5 stars.