I like reading about Marie Curie! However, the back and forth timelines confused me and made it hard for me to follow! I believe that this should have been told in a more chronological format. This is so I can understand Marie Curie’s life and the choices she made! Still, I recommend this for fans of Marie Curie! However, I will be waiting for a better novel about this fascinating figure!

Wow.. I never thought I would be hooked on a historical fiction book about Marie Curie but I was. Jillian Cantor tells two versions of Marie Curie.. alternative versions and it is excellent. Marie Curie, then Marya Sklodowska.. is in a Poland and engaged to be married. Her groom to be mother calls off the wedding because Marie is not the right type of girl for her son. Marie has the opportunity to go to Paris and attend the Sorbonne and study chemistry and physics.. This path would excel her to be the most famous female scientist and the first female noble prize winner. She would change science and women’s lives forever. But what if she made a different decision? If she had stayed and gotten married, she wouldn’t have been able to attend school. She wouldn’t have discovered Radium or attended the Sorbonne? The two stories one of Marya Sklodowska and Marie Curie is fascinating. It shows the abilities of young women and how they were held back. It tells the story of how as brilliant as she was the life of Marya would be secondary to her husband. The little things and the big things that would have been altered if Marie made different choices. This was a five star read for me. I enjoyed the storyline and the characters. I want to thank Netgalley & the author for my copy for an honest review. It was my pleasure to read and review. To be honest I don’t read many 5 star books and I am so glad I got to read this one. I hope you enjoy it too!!!

One of the best Historical Fiction books I’ve read this year!

A huge thank you to the author and Harper Perennial for my advanced copy of this wonderful book!

What I Loved-

✨ The Audio- I listened to Half Life on audio through Scribd. Cassandra Campbell is like audio book royalty 😂. She has narrated a gazillion books and is definitely in my top 3 favorite narrators.

✨ Marie Curie- love her so much. I appreciate how this book highlighted her brilliance, strength and accomplishments but also didn’t shy away from showing her flaws.

✨ The Concept- Half Life tells two stories. One story follows her life. As it is noted in history. The second is a alternative history. A story of what if. What if Marie Curie had chosen to stay in Poland and marry instead of going to school and becoming the scientist we know her to be.

✨ The Authors Note- It gave great insight into what is fact and what parts of the books were written with creative liberties. If you are someone who usually stops reading a book at the end and skips the authors note / historical note. Please stick around.
I appreciate the amount of time Jillian Cantor invested into researching and writing this novel.

Overall- Highly recommend. All of the stars. Please read this book.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. I've been a long time fan of Jillian Cantor's work. This was no exception. Both storylines were carefully constructed, beautifully written, and attention grabbing. A true joy to read. I recommend to any lover of historical fiction.

When I was in fifth grade, we had to do a biography project. We picked a biography of a historical figure and then had to do a presentation on it for class. I chose Marie Curie for this project. I enjoyed learning about her as she was fascinating and inspiring. However, I only got the basic information about her life story from the age-appropriate biography I read. So I really had no idea what her life was actually like until I read Half Life this past month.

Jillian Cantor has written an exquisite piece of historical fiction! This novel was incredibly well-written and engaging throughout. I liked the Sliding Doors aspect a lot and also seeing how situations ran parallel or eclipsed between the two timelines. While the novel was long (over 400 pages), it was so interesting that the length didn't matter. I was worried that so much was happening in the first half that there would be nothing else to tell, but there was a lot more to Marie's life than I ever knew.

My only issue (and this is very minor) is that it was hard to cast as a movie since it went through so many years and the characters aged a lot. I can picture Tiera Skovbye as a young Marie/Marya though.

I think Jillian and Renee Rosen should pair up to write a novel sometime. They'd be a powerhouse team. I highly recommend that you pick up this novel and devour it!

I was given a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I absolutely loved this book, wish I could have given it more than 5 stars! A thoroughly engrossing and thought provoking book, with a very clever premise.

This book had an interesting take on what if's and normally I do enjoy historical what if novels. But just not in this case, mainly because personally it's hard to imagine Marie Curie as anyone but Marie Curie, because of all the progress she brought to science and medicine. Without her would we have gotten x-rays and had made the progress we've made on fighting cancer. Because in the what if's of this book she never meet Pierre and never discovered x-rays or won her noble prizes. So while what if stories work for some historical figures this one didn't work for me. However I did enjoy the author's writing style and do look forward to other books by her.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Perennial for an advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Half Life by Jillian Cantor follows the life and career of Marie Curie while also following a timeline of "what if" she hadn't moved to Paris to pursue her education and instead stayed in Poland to be with her fiancé. Not only was this book well-written with perfect transitions between the alternate timelines, I learned so much about Curie and radium while reading! This was a fascinating story with overlapping characters in each timeline, suggesting the idea that we meet certain people in our lives, regardless of our relationship with them.

Cantor's research of Curie's life is evident throughout the story with minimal deviation from historical facts.

I don't even know where to start, I learned so much about Marie Curie, both her personal and professional lives. I loved the history here and would have loved history had it been taught the way Jillian Cantor writes. The way the author parallels the real-life version of Madam Curie's life along side a what-if possibility and the way she brings them together is just fantastic. #netgalley #halflife

"There was a choice. There was always a choice."

This is such a fascinating historical fiction. It focuses on Marie Curie. Beginning in 1891, it posits a choice that she could go to the Sorbonne in Paris to study science and ultimately become the Nobel prize winning Marie Curie, or that she could stay in Poland to marry and live out her days as Marya. We read two alternate timelines for Marie and Marya, seeing the power of that choice.

This book raises lots of questions about what if. In particular, I questioned the kinds of opportunities available, as we see different outcomes based on having access to money, education, and a supportive family. At a time that we still ask whether women can "have it all," this book highlights the tradeoffs of family and career. And more, it asks whether some aspects of our lives are destined.

Thank you to Harper Perennial for the finished copy and to NetGalley for the ARC.

Marie Curie, the amazing woman scientist who discovered polonium and radium, who not only was the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize but the only person to win in two scientific fields. But what would have happened if she had chosen love over science? This novel explores not only Madame Curie's actual life but also presents an alternative timeline exploring a life lived with different choices. I found this to be a well researched and fascinating examination on the many decisions made in a lifetime and the possible effects they have not only on the person but those around them. Thank you Jillian Cantor for improving my elemental knowledge of Madame Curie's incredible life in an intriguing manner!

This is going to be one of my favorite books of 2021. Have your tissues ready! Jillian Cantor brilliantly delivers a dual plotline narrative that not only beautifully portrays the life of Marie Curie, but also an alternative life that is hauntingly similar yet at the same time very different. An intricate dance that readers like me who like to find order and connections will greatly appreciate and admire. Marie Curie's timeline is filled with facts, dates, people, and events with historical verification. Marya Zorawski's life is also populated with many of the same people and events, but with a twist. At one point Marya ponders her life so far after a conversation with her husband Kaz:
". . .I wondered if it was true. If no matter what choices we made, what we had and what we were given and what we took for ourselves or not, if there were certain people in our lives who we would find our way to, no matter what."
Cantor chooses to overlay fictional Marya's life with a reflection of the true Marie's life. What we see in this book for me brings to life the doctrine of providence. The push and pull between God's will and free will is difficult for our minds to comprehend, but in essence our Heavenly Father provides what we need for our sanctification. (Romans 8:31-39).

Thank you to Harper Perennial and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

Half Life
A Novel
by Jillian Cantor
Harper Perennial and Paperbacks
You Are Auto-Approved
Harper Perennial
Historical Fiction | Literary Fiction | Women's Fiction
Pub Date 23 Mar 2021 | Archive Date 18 May 2021

What an interesting book! I would not hesitate to recommend it to our readers who enjoy science and historical fiction. This is the story of Marie Curie's life told through a dual-lens. The What if's of life that we think about.
I found Marie to be a bitter character and I really did not like her. Thanks to Harper Perennial and NetGalley for the ARC.
4star

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Perennial for the opportunity to read this advance copy of Half Life by Jillian Cantor in exchange for a fair review.
We all make choices in our lives that completely alter the course of our lifetime. We all wonder ‘what if’ we had chosen differently. Would our lives be the same? Marie Curie had a boyfriend in her youth that she adored, but his mother wouldn’t approve of the match, so the two went their separate ways. So is the gradual of an idea that begins this book. Told in dual storylines, we see Marie Curies life unfold as we know it: in Paris with Pierre, winning the Nobel prize (twice!) and earning a reputation as a scientist. We also meet Marya, who chooses Kaz instead of the opportunity to study in Paris, and the reader sees the ‘what if’. Would she still make great discoveries, or would her course be otherwise altered?
The premise itself is fascinating. We all think about our choices in hindsight and what would have happened if we could go back. It was interesting to learn more about Marie Curie, things beyond what we learn in school, and fun to entertain what would have become of her if not for her studies in Paris. I would consider doing this book in a book discussion and will recommend it to patrons. 4*

I've always taken Marie Curie for granted, I think. When studying famous women who have contributed to society- Curie, Amelia Earheart, Hilary Clinton, etc, I swept over Curie and didn't reflect on the huge effect she had on our society. I'm glad I chose to read Half Life given the topic, even though half of it was fiction and the other was taken from real life but still

Half Life is about the road not taken, the "what ifs" of life. Cantor tells two stories- the real (ish) life of Marie Curie and how she discovered radium and other scientific discoveries (most with her husband, Pierre) and her two Nobel prizes. The other story is of Marya and how she fell in love and married her first love, Kaz. She didn't go to Paris and study at the Sorbonne. She didn't discover radium or get two Nobel prizes. In the fictional "other life," Marya choose a life of being a wife and mother, yet still craving the need to learn and teach.

Half Life is about what happens when one of the greatest minds of the 20th century is denied an education and what that would mean for our society, It asks the very old and very annoying question of if a woman can have it all- both work a family. It doesn't seem like Marie can- with her real life she doesn't have a close relationship with her children because she is always working. In the alternate life, she loves her family but doesn't have the career she would have wanted.

Jillian Cantor's Half Life tells the story of Marie Curie through a dual lens: a narrative that offers Marie Curie as she was and a parallel narrative that shows who she might have been if she'd settled for a family life over science. Cantor has an accomplished record of writing alternate history. Her Margot is among the best examples of the genre. However, Half Life falters slightly in that respect--possibly because Marie Curie was not an accessible woman and, thus, is not an accessible character either. She is hard and cold and embittered by the experiences of her life, unsurprising given the cloud of death and misery that seems to follow her. Overall, Cantor told two engaging stories, but both were so miserable, so grueling it was hard to enjoy them for their literary merits. For me, this is a case of right writer, wrong subject. Still, I see certain readers enjoying the biographical aspects as well as Cantor's readable style. I would not hesitate to recommend this book to a reader interested in Marie Curie or women scientists.

I really wish people writing about music and musicians had actual musicians read their work before publishing it. Most orchestras don't call the pianist the "principal piano," and being the pianist for an orchestra does not mean playing non-stop piano concertos with said orchestra. Not every piece is a "song." Not every musician has or needs perfect pitch, and having it doesn't automatically make you a good musician.

Now that I have that off my chest: this novel fictionalizes the life of Marie Curie and, in parallel, imagines a life for her--as Marya--had she not gone to Paris to study when she did. The author is clearly trying to create numerous parallels between these two lives, including having Marie's sister Helena marry Jacques Curie in the version where Marya stays in Poland. Because of this very tight connection between the parallel worlds, though, the story is restricted in imagination and originality. The storytelling is a bit heavy-handed: it's obvious from the start that Marya's husband will cheat on her with Leokadia; that Marya will return to him; that Marya and Pierre Curie will feel attracted to one another; that the real-life affair between Marie and Paul Langevin will be mirrored by Pierre and Jeanne Langevin; and so on. Ultimately, the novel is a bit of a slog with few rewards.

Maria (pronounced Marya) Sklodowska before she became Marie Curie and before she left Poland for France, she was in love with Kazimierz Zorawski. And this story explores what-if… she stayed in Poland with her first love by inventing a fictional character of Marya Zorawski. In parallel stories, we also get to know the real story of Marie as a scientist working with her husband Pierre Curie.

Poland, 1891. Maria from early age knew that being mother wasn’t meant for her. Her “mind ached to learn.” And in Russian Poland women were not allowed to study. She is heart-broken when things don’t work out with the love of her life. But her father reminds her about her brilliant mind and that she needs to use it. The word – Sorbonne – is “like a confection for my mind, and my body hummed, alive again…” Then the story splits into imagined and real…

At Sorbonne Marie excels. She is first in her class in physics examination. She is awarded the prestigious Alexandrovitch Scholarship. But she needs a lab to progress with her studies. And that’s when she gets introduced to Pierre Curie, who has a lab and is willing to share it. He is the first man, who genuinely is fascinated by Marie’s work in physics and not looking down at her as other men.

The fictional character of Marya is very interesting too. She is very ambitious in furthering her education. But in Russian Poland women are not allowed to study. So it means that she needs to be part of Flying University – an underground educational initiative. It comes with risks of being discovered. And her husband is more concerned with her safety than with what she craves from life.

In this fictional story, I loved the atmosphere of women gathering together and learning from each other and finding comfort in each other.

In the real story, I loved the equal partnership between Pierre and Marie. He highly respects her as a scientist, thus they are equal partners in the lab. But he also craves to be equal partners in private life, forever.

And the support of her father, who was a teacher himself and believed in education and that women were as capable as men to gain education. That is very touching, the support and encouragement of a parent. And later having a respectful partner.

In both stories, the character of Marie is well-developed. She is hungry for knowledge and it is well-explored. With having very little money or none, she cares for clothes to cover her and not how she looks. What she cares about is her hungry mind, which she wants to feed with knowledge, experiments, and meaningful conversations.

The writing is very engaging. Every word and every sentence matter and are significant. The great skill of writing shines constantly, for example as chapters alternate regularly between two Maries, in the real one Pierre dies because of an accident with a horse drawn carriage and in fictional story there is a different outcome. It contrasts effortlessly with different outcomes. Thus, exploring human nature of questioning what-if I did this and that differently. My favorite part is when physics gets mixed with marriage proposal. It made me smile. As Pierre keeps proposing marriage to constantly declining Marie, he almost convinces her with “lodestone, the most magnetic of all the materials (…). The magnet cannot stay away…”

This story brings an incredible journey of Marie Curie, who was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize and to teach at Sorbonne among other accomplishments. And a richly imagined story of Marie, who picks love over studying at Sorbonne as she believes she can also achieve that in her native country with a bit more difficulty.

Wonderfully dimensional characters that engage from the first pages. Writing that evokes time and place. How challenging it was for a woman to be smart and smarter than some men. Or to live in a country that forbade women to study. A spellbinding story with brilliant writing and amazing talent in crafting such an intriguing and inspiring story.

A few years ago, I was searching for a novel about Marie Sklodowska Curie. What a pleasure it was to see this book and by an author I’m familiar with and enjoy her writing.

This is such a smart and entertaining historical novel. I love how Cantor plays with how Marie Curie's life might have gone so differently. The parallel story tracks are handled beautifully. I also appreciate what the novel says about society and its treatment of women scientists. Cantor expertly weaves her extensive research into this literary page turner. Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction.