Radiant: The Dancer, The Scientist, and a Friendship Forged in Light

Product Description

Part hidden history, part love letter to creative innovation, this is the true story of an unlikely friendship between a dancer, Loie Fuller, and a scientist, Marie Curie, brought together by an illuminating discovery.
 

At the turn of the century, Paris was a hotbed of creativity. Technology boomed, delivering to the world electric light, the automobile, and new ways to treat disease, while imagination blossomed, creating Art Nouveau, motion pictures, and modernist literature. A pivotal figure during this time, yet largely forgotten today, Loie Fuller was an American performance artist who became a living symbol of the Art Nouveau movement with her hypnotic dances and stunning theatrical effects. Credited today as the pioneer of modern dance, she was perennially broke, never took no for an answer, spent most of her life with a female partner, and never questioned her drive. She was a visionary, a renegade, and a loyal friend.

In the early 1900s, she heard about Marie Curie’s discovery of a glowing blue element and dreamed of using it to dazzle audiences on stage. While Loie’s dream wouldn’t be realized, her connection with Marie and their shared fascination with radium endured.
Radiant is the true story of Marie Curie and Loie Fuller, two revolutionary women drawn together at the dawn of a new era by a singular discovery, and the lifelong friendship that grew out of their shared passion for enlightenment.

Review

”
Radiant is the story of an unlikely friendship between two boundary-breaking women, each determined to bring some light into a dark world. A remarkable tale of science and art, beauty and loss, the power of the mind and the frailty of the body. Luminous.”―
Emily Anthes, Award-winning author of The Great Indoors

“Written at the vibrant intersection of science and art,
Radiant details the fascinating lives of Marie Curie and Loïe Fuller. Both of these extraordinary women pursued their research with creativity and persistence, imagining radical new possibilities in their respective fields of chemistry and dance. Liz Heinecke’s delightful book stages the story of their lively friendship within the proscenium frame of Belle Époque Paris.”―
Ann Cooper Albright, author of Traces of Light: Absence and Presence in the Work of Loïe Fuller

“[E]xtensive bibliographic notes attest to the factual foundation supporting this irresistible, dramatic, many-faceted, and, yes, illuminating tale of two extraordinary geniuses and their friendship. Heinecke’s fresh take on Curie is welcome, and her portrayal of the too-little-known Fuller is revelatory.”―
Booklist, starred review

“A unique, satisfying biography/creative nonfiction hybrid that celebrates the achievements of two women who revolutionized the artistic and scientific worlds.”―
Kirkus Reviews

“With rich evocations of Belle Époque Paris and accessible introductions to the era’s artistic and scientific breakthroughs, this inspirational portrait of two trailblazing women soars.”―
Publishers Weekly

“Liz Heinecke has captured [Curie and Fuller’s] lives, their times, and their friendship in a beautifully crafted work of creative nonfiction as gripping as any novel of Belle Epoch Paris.”―
New York Journal of Books

”
Radiant is the absorbing story of two women moving through one another’s orbits on the edge of their own singular legacies. In this fascinating story, Heinecke illuminates the individual work of Fuller and Curie along with their shared connection, leaving the reader with a sense of the fighting spirit they both held for their work, the people they loved, and life itself.”―
Amelia Gray, author of Isadora

“Radiant is an apt name for this book that illuminates subjects ranging from history to science and most especially, the lives and friendship of Loie Fuller and Marie Curie, two women who refused to let their genius and passion be thwarted by societal norms. An engaging, enlightening, and thoroughly entertaining read.”―
Lorna La