Breaking Barriers: A Novel Based on the Life of Laura Bassi

They said, “No!” She asked, “Why?” The answer was always the same: “Because you’re a woman.” She vowed to shatter each barrier they placed in her way.

Inquisitive and precocious, Laura Bassi grew up on the Italian Peninsula in the 1700s, dreaming of studying science at the famed University of Bologna. It was the Age of Enlightenment and although forward-thinking philosophical ideas and scientific discoveries flourished, the prevailing edict was that college was no place for a woman—no matter how capable, intelligent, or innovative. Laura was told to trust that she would find fulfillment as a dutiful wife and mother.

But why, she wondered, couldn’t she have it all?

Smugly assuring themselves of Laura’s failure, the ivory tower establishment fought to keep her out of their hallowed halls. Yet, despite restricted access to libraries and laboratories, Laura earned the respect of Europe’s top scientists and scholars. She was determined to earn a doctoral degree and teach college physics, something no woman had ever done.

Renouncing the societal norms of the day, Laura never stopped working towards a time when a woman would have the same opportunities as a man, be held to equivalent standards, and realize equal rewards. But first, she had to master Newtonian physics.

Jule Selbo is an award-winning screenwriter, playwright, and novelist. She has written feature films, and written and produced television series for major studios and networks. Credits include George Lucas's Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, HBO's Women Behind Bars-Prison Stories, and the feature Hard Promises, starring Sissy Spacek; her Disney credits include the animated features Hunchback of Notre Dame Part Deux, Cinderella II, and Ariel's Beginning. Her plays Boxes and Isolate have won regional theater awards. Her novels include Find Me In Florence (2019), Dreams of Discovery, A Novel Based on the Life of John Cabot (2019) and Pilgrim Girl (2005, co-written with Laura Peters). She is a professor at California State University, Fullerton, and has written books on screenwriting and film history, including Screenplay: Building Story Through Character (2015), Film Genre for the Screenwriter (2015), and Women Screenwriters: An International Guide (2016, edited with Jill Nelmes), contributed to Journal of Screenwriting as well as anthologies on film and essays in magazines such as Décor Maine. She is a writer on the podcast MeetCute. She holds a PhD in film from the University of Exeter in England and holds seminars on writing in the USA and internationally.