Interview with Marie Benedict
by Agnes A. Rose
Marie Benedict is a lawyer with more than years’ experience as a
litigator at two of the country’s premier law firms. She is a graduate of Boston College and the Boston University School of Law. While Marie
was practicing as a lawyer, she was dreamed about a fantastical job unearthing
the hidden historical stories of women. Finally she found it when she tried her
hand at writing. She embarked on a new, narratively connected series of
historical novels with THE OTHER EINSTEIN, which tells the tale of Albert
Einstein’s first wife who was a physicist, too. Mileva Marić might have played
the role in his theories. Marie Benedict writes also as Heather Terrell. So far
she has published the historical novels such as THE CHRYSALIS, THE MAP THIEF,
and BRIGID OF KILDARE. She is also the author of FALLEN ANGEL SERIES and BOOKS
OF EVA SERIES. In Poland her book THE OTHER EINSTEIN was released on January 11, 2017 .
Agnes A. Rose: Marie, thank you very much that you agreed to
accept my invitation to take part in this interview. I am so happy that I can
talk to you about your books. Let’s start our conversation with the fact that
you are a lawyer. What happened that you decided to create fiction? Did you
want to forget about your work and focus on something that gave you more
pleasure?
Published by SOURCEBOOKS LANDMARK USA, October 2016 |
Marie Benedict: While I enjoyed practicing as a commercial litigator
in New York City , I had always — since a very young age — been
captivated by the untold stories lurking in the past, particularly those
stories of women. One night, while working late at night at my law firm, a
friend asked me a question that gave me an idea for a novel. From that point
forward, I have been writing stories, and I am incredibly fortunate that I am
able to focus on writing exclusively.
MB: One evening, I was reading a children’s biography by
Scholastic about Albert Einstein with one of my sons, and the book mentioned
that his first wife was also a physicist with whom he had attended university.
I began to wonder who this woman was and what role she might have played in the
great scientist’s theories. Once I began researching, the story of Mileva Marić
became even more intriguing and important.
AAR: Some of historians say that Albert Einstein’s
first wife contributed to his early works, but we don’t know how important her
role and participation were. What do you think about it?
MB: While I think we will never know the full extent of
her participation in his theories, we do know that Mileva was well-educated and
extremely bright and that she and Albert had long been research and study
partners. Given Mileva’s background and the nature of her relationship with
Albert, shouldn’t the onus be on others to prove that she played no role
in his scientific breakthroughs?
MB: Before my research for THE OTHER EINSTEIN, I had no
idea that Albert Einstein and Mileva Marić had a child before their marriage —
a little girl named Lieserl — and I had no comprehension of how that child
impacted Mileva’s life. This fact was astonishing, particularly with respect to
the pivotal role it played for Mileva.
MB: Albert Einstein is such an iconic figure, arguably
the world’s most famous scientist and one of the more well-known individuals,
that I found writing a story that necessarily included him quite daunting,
especially because his depiction in THE OTHER EINSTEIN is not entirely in
keeping with the image most people have of the great scientist.
MB: I have been extremely fortunate in the wonderful
reception I’ve gotten from readers. It has received tremendous praise and
recognition, and the story of Mileva Marić seems to strike a different chord in
different people — whether it is amazement that her tale has never been told,
anger that her possible contribution to Albert Einstein’s work has been
forgotten or suppressed, disappointment that her emotional and care-taking
support of Einstein during a critical period in his career has been
marginalized, or sadness at the terrible losses Mileva suffered. I could go on
and on!
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) with his first wife Mileva Marić (1875-1948) This photo was taken in 1912 by an unknown author. |
MB: My earlier novels, the ones I wrote under the name
Heather Terrell, all contained at their core a mystery, typically one that
focused on an unanswered historical question or myth. While those novels
differed in genre, they shared that similarity. My new novels, of which THE
OTHER EINSTEIN is the first, will be works of historical fiction, centering on
the untold stories of historical women that have important resonance in our
modern lives.
MB: That series — entitled FALLEN ANGEL — explores
similar themes, namely unanswered historical mysteries, although that
exploration takes a different genre format and a broader reach. In that series,
I delved into the origins of the vampire myth and how it emerged simultaneously
across different cultures.
MB: THE HUNGER GAMES series was a tremendous series, and
I am very complimented by such a comparison. Whatever similarities exist
between the two series, however, they are not purposeful.
This is the Polish cover of THE OTHER EINSTEIN Published by ZNAK HORYZONT Kraków 2017 Translated by Natalia Mętrak-Ruda |
MB: Delving into the lives of women who played a
significant historical role — but who are little known — gives us a fresh and
fuller perspective on our history and ourselves. That is why I write about
women whose tales are largely undiscovered rather than commonly known women.
MB: This list of historical women I admire is incredibly
long, and I could not possibly single out just one.
MB: I would adore meeting Mileva! Having spent so much
time with her letters, I feel like I know her, although of course we cannot
really ever know someone from the past. I would hope that Mileva and I could
converse about her earliest aspirations, how she made the astonishing climb to
a Swiss university at a time when very few women had higher educations, what
her relationship with Albert was really like, the nature of her role in his
“miracle year” theories, and most of all, what happened to her dear
Lieserl.
MB: As I mentioned, I have a very long list of forgotten
historical women that I adore and would like to bring to light. It is actually
incredibly hard to select just one woman to focus on at a time. That said, I
did pick one for my next book, entitled CARNEGIE’S MAID. It shares the story of
the woman behind the transformation of the famous American industrialist Andrew
Carnegie from ruthless businessman to the world’s first philanthropist.
MB: Thank you so much for your support and interest in
THE OTHER EINSTEIN!
If you want to read this interview in Polish, please click here.
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