Marie Curie: A Life of Discovery

As you might guess from the title Marie Curie: A Life of Discovery is a biography of the famed scientist, and this book certainly captures the high points of her career from her pioneering work in radiation to her discovering multiple new elements to her multiple Nobel Prizes. She is still the only person to win those prizes in two separate fields, chemistry and physics. She was a pivotal scientist whose work is paved the way for many others, and I feel it is pretty easy to either lionize as an otherworldly figure or highlight her as a token great scientist. But she was also a person, and that aspect of her life is what this book portrays very well.

Its primary way of making Marie Curie's life feel palpable is through its artwork, which is painted in impressionistic fashion. It inserts color into what could be a drab, factual account, and it also features some broader scenes and landscapes, setting tone as much as conveying plot.

What I liked is how much the art contributes to the pacing, especially with some of the larger moments where double page spreads allow the story to breathe. In particular, I felt the sequence where Pierre met his unfortunate end was powerfully rendered. The artwork also packs an emotional wallop when used to show intimate moments of her life, including the aftermath of a miscarriage, her struggles being a woman in a male-dominated field, and the fallout from her husband's untimely death. In addition, the framing sequence, where Marie and Pierre's daughter Irène recounts these tales as part of a family history also makes everything feel more personal and direct.

Marie and Pierre talking about her work. In the original Italian version of the book.

What I also appreciated about this book was how it featured multiple facets of her life, from her cultural identity as a Polish woman living in Paris to her celebrity, where she was portrayed in the press in negative ways. It is strange seeing just how much she was used to bash on women in the news of the day, first described as a mere assistant to her husband (when she was actually his peer) and later as gossip fodder for her relationship with Paul Langevin. Overall, I enjoyed this book and how it depicted Marie Curie's life and work in nuanced ways. In the end she comes across as a human being and not just some figure from a textbook.

This book's creator Alice Milani is based in Italy. She has also published a graphic biography of Wisława Szymborska, a Polish author who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1996. She shares her art in this blog.

All of the reviews I have read about this book have been positive. BookDragon wrote, "When Milani isn’t explaining in the text – fluidly translated from the original Italian by Kerstin Schwandt – she relies on atmospheric, pencil-and-watercolor art to augment the narrative of Curie’s brilliant life." Kirkus Reviews summed it up as "An appealing volume for graphic novel and science enthusiasts." Jody Kopple concluded, "With a complex story structure and sophisticated science content, this addition to the canon about Curie is ideal for upper middle and high schoolers."

Originally published in Italy, Marie Curie: A Life of Discovery was published in the US by Graphic Universe, and they offer more info and an excerpt here.