The Other Einstein: A novel

Professor Weber asks a question that stumps the male students, but Mileva knows the answer. She is always nervous about raising her hand because in high school she was physically assaulted for doing that and providing the correct answer when a classroom full of boys could not. But Mileva remembers Helene’s words of encouragement and raises her hand, providing Professor Weber with the correct answer. Mileva is surprised to hear her peers murmur impressed words of encouragement that she figured it out. After class, Einstein stops her to congratulate her and asks if he can join her pension for a musical performance again. They walk out to the square together, where Mileva comments on the mathematical symmetry of the architecture. When they pass a café, Einstein’s friend, an engineer named Michele Besso, calls out to him. Einstein invites Mileva to join them. Though she is flattered that he would invite her into a private intellectual discussion, she worries about his intentions with her and declines.

Mileva explores the city with her friend Ružica. She enjoys her time out, thinking:

not for the first time, how unexpected [her] life in Zürich was. When I set out from Zagreb, I never could have imagined that I’d be sauntering down a boulevard, arm in arm with a girlfriend, after enjoying afternoon tea together in a fanciful café.