Summary

Following an introduction by Natalie Angier and Eve Curie, the book opens in 1872 in Warsaw, Poland. The Sklodovski children play in the Gymnasium where their father is a professor and under-inspector of the school. Zosia is the eldest, followed by Bronya, Hela, Jozio, and Manya. Manya, or Marya Slodovski, is the pale, timid girl who grows up to be the famous Marie Curie.

Manya was born November 7, 1867, and her childhood is far from idyllic. Her father is an impoverished nobleman and her mother suffers from tuberculosis. Her mother's illness keeps Manya from knowing the comfort of her mother's kisses, as her mother did not want to spread the contagion. Manya also lives in Russian-occupied Poland, so she is not free to do something as basic as speak her native language. When her mother and elder sister Zosia...