This was such an interesting view of Rosalind Franklin! I loved the way Marie Benedict created a story that gave so many details and was obviously so well researched! It was wonderful to read, and I didn't want to put it down. I learned a ton throughout this book, and I think readers of historical fiction are going to love it!

Marie Benedict's well-researched novel, "Her Hidden Genius," is a work of historical fiction about Dr. Rosalind Franklin, who was born in England to prominent Jewish parents. Rosalind's father repeatedly urged her to marry, have children, and engage in philanthropic activities. Instead, she became a pioneering physical chemist and x-ray crystallographer whose most productive years were in the 1940s and 1950s. Franklin worked in France and England, where she spent countless hours gathering data about the molecular structure of carbon, DNA, RNA, and viruses.

One of Benedict's central themes is the obstacles that Franklin had to overcome to achieve her goals. Certain male colleagues resented Franklin and did everything in their power to undermine her. Especially outrageous was the behavior of James Watson who, along with Francis Crick, gained worldwide fame and a Nobel Prize in 1962 for discovering the structure of DNA. In his book "The Double Helix," Watson denigrates Franklin's character and methods. This is ironic, since Watson and Crick appropriated some of Franklin's intellectual property without her knowledge or consent.

Although Dr. Franklin, who narrates, earns our sympathy and admiration, Benedict does not portray her as a saint or shrinking violet. Rosalind could be strong-willed, brusque, and confrontational. In addition, she was a perfectionist who was reluctant to submit articles for publication until she had thoroughly checked the accuracy of her findings. To her credit, Benedict debunks the rumors spread by Franklin's detractors that she was a one-dimensional workaholic. In fact, Rosalind was passionate about nature, adored hiking and mountain climbing, and had a fulfilling (albeit platonic) social life outside of the laboratory. Benedict's prose style is competent and, at times, poignant, and she gives an enlightening and detailed account of Franklin's pioneering achievements. On the other hand, the passages in which the author injects romance into the narrative are awkward and overly speculative. That being said, Benedict does a fine job of capturing the essence of Dr. Rosalind Franklin, a brilliant, exacting, and intensely curious individual who set a high bar for the men and women who followed in her footsteps.

"Her Hidden Genius" by Marie Benedict fictionalizes the life of Rosalind Franklin, the English scientist whose work was pivotal in our understanding of how DNA is structured. Largely ignored for her contributions during her lifetime, it is only recently that the breadth of Franklin's work has been recognized. Benedict's book follows Franklin from her arrival in France where she learns how to use x-ray crystallography until her death.

Though I haven't read Benedict's work in the past, she's known primarily for telling the stories of history's forgotten women, a task that buoys my review. Women uplifting other women in this way is admirable. I hadn't heard, for instance, of Franklin before this book, and I am now fascinated by her life in contributions to science. Benedict also works to uncover some of Franklin's personal challenges from romances to family obligations in order to let us see what being a scientist, a female scientist, in the 1950s was like.

By the time Benedict's Franklin returns to England in the second half of the book, the pacing picks up in this novel, but it also feels like I know less about Franklin's developing relationships, particularly with her team working on the tobacco mosaic virus, then I did earlier. It makes some of the emotional toil at this part of the book feel more cursory than deeply felt.

Still, I loved learning about Franklin and x-ray crystallography!

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Rosalind Franklin is the perfect subject for a Marie Benedict novel. Benedict admits she purposely writes about women who were once obscure, but eventually became more famous and left an important legacy. On the surface Her Hidden Genius is the captivating story of Franklin and her quest to solve the mystery of DNA. Yet Benedict's superb writing and research take the reader much deeper into Franklin's life. Franklin conquers adversity that comes from being the only female scientist, and also a brilliant one, in a man's world. She relishes the support of the coworkers she trusts and tries to avoid her adversaries. . She is also conflicted about her relationship with her close knit family. Franklin's upper middle class parents would prefer she devote her energies to volunteering rather than solve one of the world's greatest scientific mysteries. Her Hidden Genius is an excellent novel because it educates and entertains. Thankfully Benedict gives Rosalind Franklin the attention she definitely deserves.

This story is based on little known facts about a woman pioneer in the bio- science field. It followed close to real life
Account of her struggles in a male dominated and very competitive field.
Excellent read

As only author Marie Benedict can do so well, she combines history with fiction to tell tales of strong women throughout the years. Those who have endured and conquered over those who refused to see their intellect or tried to take from them their ideas all because they are women. Her Hidden Genius is clearly her best to date. It espouses the life of a woman with superior intelligence who was forced to overcome many hurtles, but courageously stood her ground to maintain her love of science, intellect and discoveries.

Rosalind Franklin was born in England into a large, wealthy family. But all her life she chose to work hard. Her genius was seen at a young age and she chose science, a profession she was passionate about as her career. In the late 1940’s and 1950’s as a scientist in physics, she worked tirelessly to understand X-rays. Over the years her specialty and obsession became DNA and its pattern.

She first worked in a laboratory in Paris, a city which she loved, with a group of scientists, both male and female who respected each other and each other’s work. They encouraged each other and each other’s research. She also fell in love for the first time, something she never thought she would be able to do. As a woman, Rosalind always felt she would have to pick, a husband or her career. Her life always consisted of her work, her laboratory and her family back in England.

After a few years in Paris, and with her parents and family pressuring her to move back to England, she agreed. She took with her the work she had been doing on unlocking the secrets of DNA. But she would find her new workplace was nothing like the one she came from. She was looked down upon by the male scientists, never called doctor by them, called by her first name, and even a nickname they gave her. She received no respect at all. But she put her head down and with her assistant continued to work on breaking the DNA code.

Then she and her assistant made an incredible breakthrough. Suddenly she finds some of the male scientists asking too many questions. She discovers one actually breaking into her laboratory. The Director of the laboratory seems to not want to deal with her problems, basically wishing her away. She decides to take another job, but before she is able to leave, it seems her discoveries are written about by some of the male scientists at the laboratory.

Beaten down, Rosalind accepts her fate. She knows what she had done and that’s all that matters. It is only later that these scientists will be challenged, and the challenger will be another woman, a good friend of Rosalind’s.

Rosalind literally devoted her whole life to the study of science and her genius was truly hidden by the men who surrounded her and by the way women were perceived at the time. But through historical writers such as Benedict, they are now being given the accolades they have always truly deserved.

Thank you #NetGalley #SourcebooksLandmark #MarieBenedict #HerHiddenGenius for the advanced copy.

I love to learn about science, especially women in science. I had only recently heard of Rosalind Franklin. She was working at a time when it was very difficult for a woman to be taken seriously in any career let alone science. She never received credit for her extraordinary contributions because of the misogyny that still exists in her field to this day. Instead the Nobel Peace Prize went to James Watson, Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins, who relied on her work without giving her credit. Marie Benedict did a great job researching Rosalind and I am glad she is finally getting the attention she deserves. Marie knocked it out of the park with this one.

This was a great book. I have read several by this author, but I feel this one is her best to date.
The author obviously did a lot of research about Rosalind, her field of science, and her specific area of research. Rosalind and her friends and rivals came to life in this book. I felt as though I knew her personally. The problems she experienced in her career, especially with others stealing her research, were so convincingly written that I seethed with anger on Rosalind's behalf. Such strong emotion (in a reader) results from excellent writing and storytelling.
I am a female PhD scientist, and Benedict really captured the realities in this novel.
This book was all substance. No superfluous filler, details, etc. All dialogue was believable. The ending was sad but satisfying.
Great read for anyone interested in the history of science, DNA research, female scientists, or changing women's roles in the workplace and society. This would be a great book club selection.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Writing this review has been a struggle. I both loved this book and was bored reading it! Benedict writes incredibly and brings to light the sacrifices and life changing discovery of a woman after WWII. Her life, her choices and her contributions to science that changed the world. She describes her life and choices clearly, humanizing this incredible person. However at times the story was slow and overly described. The in depth descriptions of the science and experiments made it challenging to read at times - and I am fascinated by science! But the descriptions often took away from the importance of the story. I think that had they been more limited and less described I would have enjoyed this book more.

Rosalind Franklin is a brilliant scientist, working on unearthing the secrets of DNA using X-Rays. Despite the challenging relationship she has with her male coworkers, Rosalind is determined. And eventually the double helix structure is revealed. However, she never expects the scientists around her would hide her findings.

An important story, giving credit to a woman who changed science and medicine for the world!

I thoroughly enjoy Marie Benedict's novels as she highlights women history has typically glossed over. This book is no exception. While it may be heavy on the scientific terms it is written in such a way that is easy to follow and context provided so that the science doesn't bog down the story.

I know I was taught about Watson & Crick growing up but not Rosalind Franklin and the significant contributions she made to science in y-ray photography and leading to the discovery of the helix model structure.

Marie's books are always so well researched and it shows throughout the novel. Rosalind's story seems all too typical of the postWW2 period when women's advances and achievements were overlooked by their male colleagues. Thankfully Marie has brought Rosalind to the forefront of history and given her due credit for her achievements.

I received Her Hidden Genius as an ARC through Netgalley. Marie Benedict does it again, bringing to life a women's story in history that is important that most people know nothing about. Rosalind Franklin is a brilliant scientist whose intelligence is recognized and encouraged while she works at a labo in France. She then accepts a position at Kings College in England where everything becomes an uphill battle. Her male associates refuse to call her doctor, give her nicknames to demean her, and worst of all go out of their way to actually steal her research and pass it off as their own. Rosalind Franklin is a real scientist who had her research on DNA stolen by others, all because she was a woman. While parts of this book can get a little heavy with scientific terms, it is necessary in order to understand the larger story.

'I have no illusions about what my future holds. For the first time, I am using science for myself—to buy a little more time, yes, for my beloved science.'

There is something incredibly wonderful about Marie Benedict's writing, and how she brings to the front women from history who otherwise haven't had the acknowledgement that they rightly deserve. Rosalind's story was not well known (not known at all truth be told) to me, and this really makes me want to read and learn more about her. The amount of scientific jargon did take away from the story for me slightly, but other than that it was a delight to read.

Also, as a side note, have tissues ready towards the end. You'll need them.

I definitely did.

4/5 stars

2 stars

Known for writing historical fiction that illuminates the stories of women who have been lost to history in some way, Marie Benedict seems like the perfect choice to tell the story of Rosalind Franklin. In my previous outings with her work, I have been impressed by her ability to delve deeply into the inner lives of these women to give their stories maximum impact.

I did not find that to be the case with Her Hidden Genius. Benedict begins the book in the middle of Rosalind's career, dropping us immediately into the scientific aspects of this book without giving us a picture of how Rosalind is as a individual. I kept hoping that I would eventually get to that bigger picture of Rosalind, but this somewhat repetitive and clinical story ultimately proved me wrong. I understand that the actual Rosalind's life was irrevocably tied up in her work, but I feel like I learned more about how she was a person by reading her Wikipedia page than I did this book.

The constant time-jumping also made the story feel merely like a series of somewhat repetitive vignettes. The storyline of Rosalind's work getting claimed by greedy men feels disjointed and oddly never feels like it impacts Rosalind all that much in the way that Benedict depicts the situation. The thing that feels like it has the most impact on her life based on the way Benedict tells it is a romantic relationship that is depicted in Part One that gets mentioned a fair amount throughout the rest of the book.

I do think that Rosalind Franklin's story is an important one to tell. I just did not find that this version did it justice.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

I am quickly becoming a fan of Marie Benedict’s commitment to showcasing lesser known women from history who had a big impact. Yes to women lifting up other women!

In her new release, pub date January 25/2022, Marie Benedict shares the story of Dr. Rosalind Franklin - a pioneer in X-ray crystallography and the structure of DNA. In 1950s Britain, as a woman in STEM, Dr. Franklin is dismissed and repeatedly disrespected because of her gender. We all know the story of a woman who needs to work twice as hard to get the recognition she deserves, only to have a man swoop in and steal the credit she rightfully deserves.

Scientists and science afficianados will love the level of detail in this novel. Benedict did not shy away from putting the science front and centre - I am in awe of the amount of research and comprehension required to do this story justice.

While I enjoyed this novel and loved learning about this exemplary woman, it was a bit outside my wheelhouse. I found myself skipping the science-y passages as they just didn’t hold my attention.

Thank you NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark and Marie Benedict for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Her Hidden Genius” follows the story of Rosalind Franklin, a woman who dedicated her life to science and whose scientific contributes helped to advance the understanding about humankind.

Whether working at a university in London, or in a laboratory in Paris, in the aftermath of World War II, Rosalind always felt close to science and the unchanging laws of physics and chemistry. When Rosalind is assigned to work on DNA, she believes that if there is someone who can unearth its secrets, it’s most definitely her.

“Her Hidden Genius” tells us about the struggles of a woman working in a male dominant field; how competition drives scientific discoveries; and how the life’s work of one person can forever change humankind, after the double helix structure of DNA reveals itself.

Sometimes I forget how much I like reading Historical Fiction, and I’m so thankful that books like “Her Hidden Genius” remind me that I really do!!!

Whenever I decide to pick up an historical fiction novel, I tend to go for the ones that try to tell the unknown stories of the past, that strive to go deeper and to show just how complex and not linear history is; and how, more often than not, some important voices have been silence in the dominant version of history.

In this novel, Marie Benedict explores how Rosalind, a young female scientist, had to navigate her way around a male-dominated field, and deal with all the prejudices that includes, while still founding a way to completely dedicate her life to her work, her great legacy to humankind.

Thank you to @netgalley, @bookmarked and @authormariebenedict for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Having read and loved several books by Marie Benedict including my favorites The Personal Librarian and Carnegie’s Maid. I looked forward to reading Her Hidden Genius.. I particularly enjoyed the first forty percent of the book and how Marie Benedict brought the human side of Dr. Rosalind Franklin to life. Benedict’s descriptions of the workplace and friendships Rosalind formed in France under Monsieur Mathieu and Jacques Mering kept me interested. Once Rosalind returned to England, I began to have difficulty staying focused on her scientific work with DNA and found myself skimming some parts to get to personal parts of her story. My thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. The opinions n this review are my own.

This is the story of Rosalind Franklin, the scientist who's work with x-ray crystallography uncovered the double helix structure of DNA, as well as understanding the molecular structure of DNA, RNA, viruses, coal and graphite. Because of the timing, and the field of science being saturated almost exclusively with men, Rosalind did not get the credit she so rightly deserved. This book was both interesting and infuriating for that reason. Before I read this book, I had never even heard of Rosalind Franklin. I am so glad I got the chance to read this and learn about her contributions. The book did seem a bit slow at some parts, but I think that was more because of the science aspect, and lets be honest here.... science was NOT my strong point in school. If you are a fan of historical fiction then you will definitely want to check this one out.

The story begins in Paris, France, where Rosalind Franklin accepts a position as a researcher at a chemistry institute. During the war she faced discrimination at the hands of her male colleagues, forcing her to seek an opportunity abroad, much to her parents chagrin. Franklin finds the environment completely different in France, researchers frequently collaborate and are open minded to feedback, there is none of the discrimination she faced in England, and she even opens herself up to the possibility of love. She eventually makes her way back home to England and accepts a position at Kings College, there she will be working on uncovering the structure of DNA. Coming back to England meant that she would be going back to the old boys club, lines are drawn early and a rivalry quickly forms between her and one of her male colleagues. As the race heats up to uncover the structure of DNA, Franklin begins to question wether or not she wants to continue at Kings College, she decides to leave for a smaller institution and tries to get on with her career. Luckily she finds another great group of people to work with and is thriving, unfortunately she is given terrible news, bringingthis brilliant researchers life and career to a halt.

This is my third book by Benedict and I love how she can fully capture her subjects in a way that makes for great reading. Since these are fictionalized versions of their life, her books always make me want to go out and read more on the subject afterward. I breezed through this book, the writing was concise and held my interest throughout. I have to admit to scanning over the more technical parts to get to the relationships she had with her love interests and her colleagues, but I'm not science-minded so that might not be the case for everyone.

Her Hidden Genius
By Marie Benedict

Rich Writing and a Riveting Story

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

SUMMARY
1947: Dr. Rosalind Franklin is a brilliant young scientist who holds herself to the highest standards in the scientific community. She has just moved from London to Paris to accept a position continuing her previous research on the atomic structure of coal using X-ray crystallography. Her parents are not pleased with her decision to move away from their home in London and continually pressure her to return to the family business of philanthropy. Rosalind loves Paris, her work environment, her colleagues, and her research.

1951: After a devastating broken heart, Rosalind does move back to London to work at Kings College Biophysics Research Unit, where she is surprised to be assigned the study of the structure of cell DNA. It’s a far cry from her previous expertise on nonliving structures but capitalizes on her knowledge and skills as an X-ray crystallographer. She is also told she is expected to be the first to map the structure of DNA and unlock the exact location of genetic material. The competition to be the first was ferocious, and Rosalind needed to stay on guard to ensure no one stole her research while at the same time fighting vehemently against women stereotypes.

REVIEW
Author Marie Benedict significantly and keenly writes about women of the past who have contributed much to society but received little or no recognition for their accomplishments. Dr. Rosalind Franklin is a perfect candidate for Benedict’s pen. Many books have been published about Rosalind’s research, some crediting her with the discovery while others crediting the men who used her research. The story is riveting, and the writing is rich.

HER HIDDEN GENIUS is both a dramatic and an enlightening book of a woman of courage and determination. Benedict’s detailed research and her fictional presentation helps us imagine the struggles Rosalind faced and appreciate her not only as a researcher but also as a daughter, sister, friend, and colleague. Readers will love the challenge of learning about x-ray diffraction and the study of DNA.

Other notable women that Benedict has written about include Mitza Maric (THE OTHER EINSTEIN), Clara Kelly (CARNEGIE’s MAID), Hedy Lamar (THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM) and Bella De Costa Greene (THE PERSONAL LIBRARIAN)

Thanks to Netgalley for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rosalind Franklin, a brilliant outsider, shuns the conventional path her family and society plans for her to pursue her passion for science. From the laboratories of Paris to London, her determination and trailblazing discoveries are applauded by some and ridiculed by others. Marie Benedict once again introduces us to an amazing woman whose contributions to the world have been dismissed or forgotten. Her illuminating narrative inspired me to learn more about this incredible genius whose hard work and sacrifice paved the way for generations of female scientists. I highly recommend this well-researched, fascinating glimpse of a DNA pioneer.