The Tenth Muse

Locations
Call Number: Fiction / Chung, Catherine, Adult Book / Fiction / General / Chung, Catherine
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Malletts Creek Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fiction / Chung, Catherine	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / Chung, Catherine	4-week checkout	On Shelf

Determined to conquer the Riemann hypothesis despite cultural discrimination against women intellectuals, a genius mathematician uncovers a mysterious theorem's unexpected World War II link to her family.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

A disconsolate and familiar story that echoes the experiences of many women in STEM fields submitted by labelleh on February 22, 2021, 10:20am Reading this book feels like the literary equivalent of doom scrolling. Page after page is filled with misfortune, emotional turbulence, and crushing societal cruelty. You can tell that the main character's acerbic story telling probably comes from real difficulties the author faced while obtaining her degree in Mathematics at University of Chicago. As soon as the main character, Katherine, starts to gain momentum, she has things taken away from her professionally and personally. This occurs at *every stage* in her life - two steps forward, one step back. It is heart-rending. What I hoped would be a story of triumph over societal expectations of women in STEM in the mid-20th century is ultimately a story of isolation and compromise, which is likely more historically accurate...

Excellent book submitted by Susan4Pax -prev. sueij- on June 15, 2021, 10:05pm I thought this would “just” be a novel, but in the end it was something of a mystery, and that delighted me. The math was wonderful (though you definitely don’t have to be a mathematician to enjoy the book), Katherine’s journey as a woman was wonderful, and the dynamics of growing up Chinese in the US were interesting and well framed. I loved the first-person narration for the insight it gave into Katherine’s relationships as she looked back over her life. Overall, an excellent book.