Category Archives: Mileva Maric

The Need for Obsession

Posted on 5. May 2012 by Nancy Pinard

I am a writer.  I am also a tennis player.  (In fact, I have torn the ligaments in my right elbow playing tennis, and in lieu of having Tommy John surgery, I wear a wrist-to-shoulder metal  Bledsoe brace on my … Continue reading →

Posted in Annie Darwin, Charles Darwin, death, Einstein, Einstein's children, Einstein's Daughter, Generating Fiction from History and/or Fact, historical fiction, Mileva Maric, obsession, point of view, reading, Serbia, writing, Zurich | 1 Comment

The Inner Conflict

Posted on 20. March 2012 by Nancy Pinard

I will be teaching a workshop on writing the endings of short stories and novels at the Mad Anthony Writers’ Workshop April 13-15 in Hamilton, Ohio.  In the process of preparing, I was made conscious of subjects that generally remain … Continue reading →

Posted in Charles Darwin, Einstein, Generating Fiction from History and/or Fact, historical fiction, inner conflict, Mileva Maric, Pauline Einstein, reading, writing | Leave a comment

Grappling with Gaps in the Record

Posted on 1. December 2011 by Nancy Pinard

In keeping with my resolve not to change the historical record where it exists, I still wrestle with how to handle the gaps.   The writing of fictional biography gives me some license, of course, but I mostly interpret that to … Continue reading →

Posted in Auguste Forel, Bulgholzli Psychiatric Hospital, Eduard Einstein, Einstein's Daughter, Fictional biography, Generating Fiction from History and/or Fact, historical fiction, Marija Maric, Michele Zackheim, Mileva Maric, Milos Maric, point of view, reading, schizophrenia, Serbia, writing, Zorka Maric, Zurich | 2 Comments

Ahhh, Bern

Posted on 26. September 2011 by Nancy Pinard

Bern is a medieval city that has changed little structurally since 1410 when a law was passed, after a fire that burned all the wooden buildings, that decreed all buildings be made of stone.   Of course the old city now … Continue reading →

Posted in Anus Mirabilus, Bern, Eduard Einstein, Einstein, Elsa Einstein, Ernest Hemingway, Generating Fiction from History and/or Fact, Hadley Richardson, Hans Albert Einstein, Helen Dukas, History Museum, Johanna Fantova, Margot Einstein, Mileva Maric, Oktoberfest, Special Theory of Relativity, Switzerland | Leave a comment

Lake Como, Part II

Posted on 18. September 2011 by Nancy Pinard

We stayed in Tremezzo (tree-metzo) because it’s the location of the Villa Carlotta, an open-to-the-public villa with extensive gardens that Albert and Mileva visited on their ferry trip from Como to Colico.  It’s likely they stopped in other villages as … Continue reading →

Posted in Bellagio, Einstein, Lake Como, Mileva Maric, reading, Tremezzo, Varenna, Villa Carlotta | Leave a comment

The Einstein Tour Part I, Lake Como

Posted on 15. September 2011 by Nancy Pinard

My husband and I arrived in Milan yesterday after the (for me) sleepless overnight flight that is penance for the luxury of European travel, meaning no taxi fare seemed too high if it meant we might settle in at our … Continue reading →

Posted in Bellagio, Einstein, Generating Fiction from History and/or Fact, historical fiction, Italy, Lake Como, Mileva Maric, reading, Research methods, Tremezzo, Varenna, writing | 1 Comment

The Paper Garden

Posted on 18. August 2011 by Nancy Pinard

I have just uncovered that greatest of all delights, a book that runs so close to my vein that I look forward to going to bed at night so I can dip into it.  The book is The Paper Garden:  … Continue reading →

Posted in Darwin, Einstein, making art, Mileva Maric, Molly Peacock, reading, Shadow Dancing, The Paper Garden, writing | 3 Comments

The Business of Dowries

Posted on 23. June 2011 by Nancy Pinard

Most of what I knew about Jewish dowries, prior to researching the Einstein novel, came from the stories of Shalom Aleichem, via Tevye the milkman and Fiddler on the Roof.  I extend my gratitude and acknowledgment to Marion Kaplan and … Continue reading →

Posted in arranged marriage, dowry, Einstein, Fiddler on the Roof, Marion Kaplan, matchmakers, Mileva Maric, Pauline Einstein, reading, Research methods, Shalom Aleichem, Switzerland | Leave a comment

An Exercise in Point-of-View

Posted on 8. June 2011 by Nancy Pinard

I’m working on a scene where it’s hard to understand Einstein’s behavior.  It’s mid-July, 1901, and Mileva is about to re-sit her exams at the Polytech, having failed them the summer before.  It’s her last chance to pass, and, oh-my-god, … Continue reading →

Posted in Einstein, family members, Fictional biography, historical fiction, Mettmenstetten, Mileva Maric, Pauline Einstein, point of view, Serbia, Switzerland, writing | 3 Comments

German Jewish Family Values

Posted on 15. February 2011 by Nancy Pinard

Additional research–my thanks to Marion Kaplan for her book The Making of the Jewish Middle Class–reveals that as laws in Germany allowed Jews freedom to join the professions and become upwardly mobile, the German ideals of cleanliness entered the Jewish … Continue reading →

Posted in Marion Kaplan, Mileva Maric, Pauline Einstein, reading, Research methods, Serbia, writing | Leave a comment