In this candid memoir, Jane Hawking, the first wife of Stephen Hawking, tells the story of their marriage. It is a love story. But this love story is a true story, not a fairytale. It includes all the tests and trials of a marriage as well as the beauty and joy.
As Stephen Hawking, the theoretical physicist and cosmologist, and his wife were coming to grips with the fame his work regarding black holes had drawn, they were also navigating the motor-neurone disease that was gradually and progressively paralysing his body. And, in Travelling to Infinity, Jane Hawking writes with honesty about the challenges they faced, navigating the worlds of fame and degenerative illness, all whilst trying to care for and support a growing family.
In the postlude section of the book, Jane Hawking writes that her initial hesitancy to write about her life with Stephen gave way because "my life was public property anyway as a result of Stephen's fame, and it would only be a matter of time before biographers started to investigate the personal story behind his genius and his survival: that would inevitably include me." And the author writes with honesty but with care and respect for her former husband. This is no 'warts and all' biography for the base celebrity gossip crowd; this is a considered and thoughtful book on the love shared in a family, and in a marriage.
As well as exploring family life and marital love, this book is also a consideration of what it takes to live with a degenerative illness, and the strength it takes to be a carer. This is a book that is worth the reading, even if you've no interest in physics or cosmology, because this is a book about neither of those things. This is a book about being human.
You can buy a copy of Travelling to Infinity by Jane Hawking here, from bookshop.org, who support independent bookshops!
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