By: Marie Benedict
ISBN: 9781492666868
Publisher: SourceBooks Landmark
Publication Date: 01/08/2019
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: TBR She possessed a stunning beauty. She also possessed a stunning mind. Could the world handle both? Her beauty almost certainly saved her from the rising Nazi party and led to marriage with an Austrian arms dealer. Underestimated in everything else, she overheard the Third Reich's plans while at her husband's side, understanding more than anyone would guess. She devised a plan to flee in disguise from their castle, and the whirlwind escape landed her in Hollywood. She became Hedy Lamarr, screen star.
But she kept a secret more shocking than her heritage or her marriage: she was a scientist. And she knew a few secrets about the enemy. She had an idea that might help the country fight the Nazis...if anyone would listen to her.
A powerful novel based on the incredible true story of the glamour icon and scientist whose groundbreaking invention revolutionized modern communication, The Only Woman in the Room is a masterpiece.
Praise
"Once again, Benedict shines a literary spotlight on a historical figure whose talents and achievements have been overlooked, with sparkling results. The Only Woman in the Room is page-turning tapestry of intrigue and glamour about a woman who refuses to be taken for granted. Spell-binding and timely."
—Fiona Davis, national bestselling author of The Masterpiece
"In her rousing historical novel, Benedict (Carnegie's Maid) imagines lesser known aspects of Hedy Lamarr's life-before she took the film world by storm in the '40s, and her later efforts as a hobbyist inventor during her acting years. Benedict paints a shining portrait of a complicated woman who knows the astonishing power of her beauty but longs to be recognized for her sharp intellect. Readers will be enthralled" - Publishers Weekly
"A captivating story of a complicated woman blazing new trails." - Kirkus Reviews
"Benedict's compelling fictionalized biography pays tribute to the overlooked scientific contributions and the hidden depths of a stunning beauty and beloved movie star of superior intelligence and verve through an irresistible combination of Hollywood glamour and international intrigue." -
About the Author
Once a New York City lawyer, Marie Benedict had long dreamed about a fantastical job unraveling the larger mysteries of the past as an archaeologist or historian -- before she tried her hand at writing. While drafting her first book, she realized that she could excavate the possible truths lurking in history through fiction, and has done so in THE OTHER EINSTEIN, the story of Mileva Maric, Albert Einstein's first wife and a physicist herself, and CARNEGIE'S MAID, the story of a brilliant woman who may have spurred Andrew Carnegie toward philanthropy.
Her upcoming novel, THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM, will release in January of 2019. She is a graduate of Boston College and the Boston University School of Law, and lives in Pittsburgh with her family. Read More
