If You Are There: A Novel
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Set in the early 1900s, the novel follows young Lucia Rutkowska who, thanks to the influence of her beloved grandmother, escapes the Warsaw ghetto to work as a kitchen maid in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the bustling city of Paris. Too talented for her lowly position, Lucia is thrown out on the street. Her only recourse is to take a job working for a married coupleโtwo disorganized, rather poor scientists so distracted by their work that their house and young child are often neglected. Lucia soon bonds with her eccentric employers, watching as their work with radioactive materials grows increasing noticed by the world, then rising to fame as the great Marie and Pierre Curie.
Soon all of Paris is alight with the news of an impending visit from Eusapia Palladino, the worldโs most famous medium. It is through her now famous employers that Lucia attends Eusapiaโs gatherings and eventually falls under the mediumโs spell, leaving the Curie household to travel with Palladino to Italy. Ultimately, Lucia is placed directly in the crosshairs of faith versus science. What is more real, the glowing substances of the Curie laboratory or the glowing visions that surround the medium during her sรฉance?
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Susan Sherman is the author of If You Were There and of the acclaimed novel The Little Russian, which was a โGreat New Readsโ pick by People magazine and named by Publishers Weekly as one of the best books of 2014. She is the former chairperson of the art department at Whittier College in California and the co-creator of Thatโs So Raven on the Disney Network.
Kate Reading is the recipient of multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards and has been named by AudioFile magazine as a โVoice of the Century,โ as well as the Best Voice in Science Fiction & Fantasy in 2008 and 2009 and Best Voice in Biography & Culture in 2010. She has narrated works by such authors as Jane Austen, Robert Jordan, Edith Wharton, and Sophie Kinsella. Reading has performed at numerous theaters in Washington D.C. and received a Helen Hayes Award for her performance in Aunt Dan and Lemon. AudioFile magazine reports that, "With subtle control of characters and sense of pacing, Kateโs performances are a consistent pleasure."
