Women in the Shadows discusses the biographies of five brilliant and talented women born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire: Mileva Einstein-Maric, Margarete Jeanne Trakl, Lise Meitner, Milena Jesenska, and Margarete Schutte-Lihotzky. Charles S. Chiu creates a narrative against forgetting, as a small step out of darkness by writing about these women’s accomplishments, which were overshadowed by those of the famous men in their lives. Edith Borchardt’s translation brings this narrative to a wider audience.

Women in the Shadows will interest scientists and scholars in the humanities as well as the general reader. The women portrayed represent various fields - mathematics, physics, music and literature, journalism, and architecture - making Women in the Shadows suitable for courses on the history of science, German and Austrian studies, as well as women’s studies.