The Goddess of Small Victories

“[A] fascinating portrait of a marriage…tracing the Gödels’ tumultuous past and the sad decline of a brilliant mind.” —New York Times

“Painstakingly researched, seamlessly translated, this is historical fiction of exceptional daring.” —Booklist (starred review)

“Impeccably researched…an engrossing piece of historical fiction.” —Bustle

“An important meditation on those forgotten by history.” —The Huffington Post

“An intellectually challenging…deconstruction of the notion of ‘the great man.’” —Kirkus Reviews

“A well-written novel, deep, troubling, and powerful.” —Historical Novel Society

“The Goddess of Small Victories is a pitch perfect comedy of manners set on an intellectual Mt. Olympus in mid-20th century New Jersey. Albert, Oskar, Oppie, Johnny and Kurt are the reigning deities. Mathematical gossip and conspiracy theories are served up with birdbath-sized martinis and three inch steaks. Domestic relations appear to be governed by Godel’s Incompleteness Theorem. Yannick Grannec’s portrait of the marriage-of-opposites at the heart of the novel is pure genius.” —Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind

“By focusing on the woman who kept Gödel’s demons at bay, The Goddess of Small Victories succeeds in portraying the human side of his life in a way that sympathetically captures its mix of triumph, tragedy, and eccentricity, without sacrificing historical or mathematical accuracy. No wonder it has already won prestigious literary awards.” —John W. Dawson, Jr, author of Logical Dilemmas: The Life and Work of Kurt Gödel

“I loved this book. It takes us back to one of the most important periods in our scientific history, when The Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton served as an ingathering place for some of the most brilliant, and tortured, minds of their day. And it brings one of the forgotten geniuses of that day vividly to life.” —Douglas Starr, author of The Killer of Little Shepherds: A True Crime Story and The Birth of Forensic Science

“A model of novelistic efficiency which intelligently combines history, theorems, passion, and flamingos.” —Lire

“Suffice it to say that The Goddess of Small Victories is an astonishing novel.” —Le Point

“A first novel as ambitious as it is accessible.” —Le Soir

“Breathtaking.” —Livres Hebdo