Her Hidden Genius

Her Hidden Genius serves as a corrective to the influential and controversial narrative established by James Watson in his 1968 memoir, The Double Helix. Watson’s account of the discovery of DNA’s structure portrayed Rosalind Franklin as a difficult, unfeminine, and intellectually rigid caricature he called “Rosy,” a nickname she was known to dislike. While acknowledging that his and Francis Crick’s breakthrough depended on her data, Watson’s book minimized Franklin’s scientific acumen and cast her as an obstacle to progress. This depiction was so contested that it ignited a decades-long effort to reclaim Franklin’s legacy, beginning most notably with her friend Anne Sayre’s 1975 rebuttal biography, Rosalind Franklin and DNA, which presented a more nuanced portrait grounded in extensive interviews and research. Marie Benedict’s novel continues this tradition of historical reclamation through fiction. By granting Franklin a first-person narrative voice, the novel directly challenges Watson’s version of events and restores Franklin’s agency, depicting her not as a belligerent, emotional woman but as a brilliant and meticulous scientist navigating a deeply misogynistic environment. The book reframes the story to center on her intellectual journey, her collaborative relationships in Paris, and the personal and professional toll of the betrayals she faced at King’s College.