FICTION

Goddess of Small Victories

by Yannick Grannec
Other. Sept. 2014. 464p. tr. from French by Willard Wood. ISBN 9781590516362. $26.95; ebk. ISBN 9781590516379. F
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In French author Grannec's first novel, which focuses on real-life couple Kurt and Adele Gödel, love is more powerful than anything, from family disapproval to mental illness. Adele devoted her life to taking care of her mathematical genius husband, a paranoid recluse who never showed her even the smallest affection. Kurt, who believed that others were trying to poison him, ate less and less, eventually dwindling to 66 pounds and dying of anorexia. The novel alternates between Adele's memories of her difficult marital life and the efforts of a young woman named Anna, who has been charged with the task of gaining Adele's trust in order to secure rights to her late husband's papers. The women develop a true friendship that comes to mean a great deal to both of them.
VERDICT While some of the mathematical discussions are hard to follow, the book offers insight into a little-known historical figure, as well as a portrait of Kurt's close friend, Albert Einstein. And Adele, who always lived in her husband's shadow, rightfully takes center stage, with readers marveling at how love can survive when it receives no nourishment. For fans of Sylvia Nasar's A Beautiful Mind.
Reviewed by Evelyn Beck, Piedmont Technical Coll., Greenwood, SC , Jul 01, 2014
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