Guest post written by author Mary Anna Evans
Mary Anna Evans is an award-winning author, a writing professor, and she holds degrees in physics and engineering, a background that, as it turns out, is ideal for writing her new book, The Physicists’ Daughter. Set in WWII-era New Orleans, the book introduces Justine Byrne, whom Mary Anna describes as “a little bit Rosie-the-Riveter and a little bit Bletchley Park codebreaker.” When Justine, the daughter of two physicists who taught her things girls weren’t expected to know in 1944, realizes that her boss isn’t telling her the truth about the work she does in her factory job, she draws on the legacy of her unconventional upbringing to keep her division running and protect her coworkers, her country, and herself from a war that is suddenly very close to home.
People love science. And I’m not just talking about the people who choose to do science for a living. I’m talking about regular, ordinary folks. I’m talking about all of us.
As evidence, let me point to the nineteten (nineteen!) seasons of NCIS, not to mention its spinoffs based in Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Hawai’i. And let me remind you of Patricia Cornwell’s thirty-seven books. And Kathy Reichs’ twenty-one books. And all the other movies, television shows, and books that wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for forensic science. Many, many people aren’t just willing to spend a lot of time thinking about physical, chemical, and biological science. They actively choose to spend their leisure time learning more about it.
I’ve written thirteen books featuring archaeologst Faye Longchamp, and my readers have happily gone with me on deep dives into archaeology, yes, but also into astronomy, geology, meteorology, and more, because archaeologists have to know about these things in order to do the fascinating work they do. Archaeology, like forensic science, is an ever-popular subject for mystery fams, and I think I have an idea why: They are all about the search for truth.
Who lived on this ancient site thousands of years ago? Who murdered this person yesterday? How will this book end? We turn the pages to find out, and we do it quickly, because we are driven to know the truth.
I believe the secret to hooking readers on a story boils down to four words: “Make them feel something.” This means that the secret to hooking readers on a story based on science is to keep their emotions front and center.
My new book, The Physicists’ Daughter, has the science and the emotions right there in the title. The protagonist ,Justine Byrne, loves physics and dreams of a career doing laboratory research, but she loves it because her parents loved it. Her mother and father were both physicists—an unusual situation in 1944, to say the least—and they taught her to be curious about the world from the day she was born. Sadly, they died in an automobile accident when she was only 17. At the opening of the book, Justine is 21 and she has a a real Rosie-the-Riveter-style job at a factory that builds boats and airplanes for the Allies fighting World War II. Everything’s going as well for Justine as they can be during wartime for a young woman who has lost her parents…
…until Justine realizes that somebody’s lying to her. Nobody expects a woman to know physics in 1944, so nobody expects the women on the assembly line to notice that they’re not building what they’ve been told they’re building, but Justine is different. She remembers the physics her parents loved, and she can see the lie.
Justine can also see that somebody is trying to sabotage their work, and this is information that could be deadly. She can trust nobody—not the charming men trying to get her attention and certainly not her slimy boss—so she’s forced to use the science her parents taught her to uncover an enemy spy and to salvage a secret project that’s critical to winning the war.
Justine is chronically underestimated. Nobody expects her to be a threat the plot taking shape around her. She is just a young woman, alone in the world, but inside her brain is the answer to a crisis that could hand victory to the Axis powers.
Fortunately, the Nazis are no match for the physicists’ daughter.
