Having been diagnosed with hysteria in 1878, Blanche Wittman was committed to Salpetriere Hospital for sixteen years. Under the care of the famous M. Charcot she was regularly displayed before a public audience in a cataleptic state. Over time the nature of her participation in these demonstrations changed, as did her relationship with M. Charcot, until eventually she graduated from patient to assistant. On leaving the hospital, she was hired by Marie Curie to work in her Paris laboratory, where, on 17 February 1898, after successful experiments conducted with the mineral pitchblende, radium was discovered. So enchanted was Marie by its soft blue glow that she took to keeping a glass vial of radium salts at her bedside. For Blanche, the effects were more brutal; exposure to radiation necessitated the amputation of all her limbs, save one. Marie did not escape tragedy altogether; her husband and collaborator Pierre was weakened by illness and subsequently killed having wandered in front of an oncoming horse and cart. Following Pierre's death Marie embarked on an ill-fated love affair which, in 1911, almost cost her a second Nobel Prize. Using Blanche's notebooks - "The Book of Questions" - Enquist deftly weaves fact and fiction to render the extraordinary relationship of two extraordinary women at the dawn of a century of tremendous change. Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein and Emmeline Pankhurst are among the many that add to the authenticity of this powerful tale of scientific discovery, death, art and love.
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Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Per Olov Enquist is one of Sweden's most acclaimed writers: a novelist, playwright and poet with works published in more than twenty-five countries. His novel, The Visit of the Royal Physician, was awarded the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in 2003.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
Fact & fiction,
By Dr. Christine Maingard "Author of "Think ... (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Story of Blanche and Marie. Per Olov Enquist (Paperback)
Per Olov Enquist is an acclaimed Swedish writer who was awarded an Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for one of his earlier books. However, I couldn't quite get absorbed in The Story of Blanche and Marie. Per Olov Enquist. This is the story of Blanche Wittmann who was committed to hospital for 16 years and who, after all this time, 'graduated' from patient to assistant to the famous Professor Charcot. Blanche eventually joined Marie Curie to work in her laboratory. Blanche ended up being utterly captivated by the discovered radium and kept a glass vial of radium salts on her bedside table. This exposure to radiation led to the amputation of three of her limbs.How gruesome and how true! Enquist paints the picture of Marie's and Blanche's unusual relationship by using Blanche's notebooks "The Book of Questions" and by connecting her account with what he, as the author, imagined could have happened. Whilst the real story of Blanche and Marie is heart breaking and powerful, I found that the 'weaving' of fiction and fact elements in this book was not well executed. I tried, but simply found it difficult to be drawn into the story. Christine Maingard, Author of 'Think Less Be More:Mental Detox for Everyone'
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