The Only Woman in the Room: A Novel

by Marie Benedict

Paperback, 2019

Status

Available

Publication

Sourcebooks Landmark (2019), Edition: Reprint, 336 pages

Description

Hedy Kiesler is lucky. Her beauty leads to a starring role in a controversial film and marriage to a powerful Austrian arms dealer, allowing her to evade Nazi persecution despite her Jewish heritage. But Hedy is also intelligent. At lavish Vienna dinner parties, she overhears the Third Reich's plans. One night in 1937, desperate to escape her controlling husband and the rise of the Nazis, she disguises herself and flees her husband's castle. She lands in Hollywood, where she becomes Hedy Lamarr, screen star. But Hedy is keeping a secret even more shocking than her Jewish heritage: she is a scientist. She has an idea that might help the country and that might ease her guilt for escaping alone -- if anyone will listen to her. A powerful novel based on the incredible true story of the glamour icon and scientist whose groundbreaking invention revolutionized modern communication.… (more)

Rating

½ (294 ratings; 3.6)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Dianekeenoy
Marie Benedict wrote The Other Einstein which I really enjoyed so I was really looking forward to reading her new book. And, it didn’t disappoint. This is historical fiction but she did quite a lot of research to flesh out the life of Hedwig Eva Maris Kiesler who we knew as Hedy Lamarr. What I
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did not know until recently was that she was much more than just a stunning beauty. She also possessed an incredible scientific mind. Hedy was born in Vienna, Austria in 1914. As the Nazis began to gain power, her Jewish parents encouraged her to marry a wealthy Austrian ammunitions manufacturer who they felt would save their family from the Nazi horrors. Underestimated because of her beauty, she overheard the the Third Reich’s plans while at her husband’s side. Her marriage however eventually became unbearable and she devised a plan to flee in disguise from their castle, first to Paris and then to London where she met Louis B. Mayer, head of MGM. Making friends with his wife, she became Hedy Lamarr. At the beginning of World War II, she and composer George Antheil developed a radio guidance system for Allied torpedoes, which used spread spectrum and frequency hopping technology to defeat the threat of jamming by the Axis powers. The patent for this groundbreaking invention, although rejected by the Navy, was classified as top secret and in the 1950s, given to a contractor for the construction of a sonobuoy that could detect submarines in the water and then transmit that information to an airplane above using Hedy’s unjammable frequency-hopping idea. Later, the military and other private entities began to make their own inventions using this interpretation of spread spectrum technology – without any recompense to Hedy, as the patent had expired. And, today aspects of her frequency-hopping idea can be found in the wireless devices we use every day! Not just another pretty face!
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LibraryThing member wagner.sarah35
I'd heard of Hedy Lemarr, a movie star who was also an inventor, but I had not realized she was an Austrian-Jewish immigrant who endured an abusive marriage with an arms dealer. In fact, almost of half of this novel was about her first marriage, and the things she learned about weapons while
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listening to the conversations between her husband and his government contacts. Building on her own scientific interests, Hedy went on to design weapons systems the US Navy would eventually adopt more than a decade later. This novel was fascinating and makes me want to know more about this woman who was certainly more than a pretty face.
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LibraryThing member lilibrarian
A fictionalized biography of actress Hedy Lamarr. Jewish, she escaped from Austria and made a career as an actress in the United States. Her first husband sold munitions to the Reich, and based on her knowledge of his business and weaponry, she developed a technology used now in cell phones.
LibraryThing member Liz1564
This novel was sent to me by the publisher Sourcebooks Landmark via NetGalley.. Thank you.

This is a fictionalized life of Hedy Lamarr from the age of 19 to 28. Lamarr is best remembered as the stunningly beautiful and exotic Hollywood actress from the 1940’s and 50’s. The author tries to show
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that she was so much more.

The problem I had with the novelization is that I didn’t really connect with the main character. It is 1933 in Vienna. Hedy Kiesler is introduced at just 19, a year after she made the notorious film Ecstasy where she swam naked and had a graphic sex scene with her leading man. She is onstage at the Theater of Vienna and responding to the thunderous applause she is getting for her role as the Empress Elizabeth. Suddenly a parade of ushers carry on dozens of bouquets of roses and lay them at her feet. The mysterious admirer is no other than Friedrich Mandl, a 34 year old arms manufacturer and the richest man in Vienna. Within weeks Hedy is engaged to be married to him. She may or may not actually love him but she follows her father’s advice that a marriage to him would keep her and her parents safe since they are nonpracticing Jews. She is strictly a trophy wife. He runs the household, chooses her wardrobe, and expects her to be a proper hostess to his many business associates. The only thing Hedy can do is listen and this she is good at. She does display a knack for remembering conversations and mentions something she overheard to her husband which helps him in a business deal. Thereafter, he expects her to eavesdrop and report any tidbits which are to his financial or political advantage. Finally, tired of her husband’s dominance and increasing jealous paranoia plus what she hears about the Nazi plans for Jews , she runs away to Hollywood.

The next 90 pages are about Hedy’s Hollywood career. She gets an MGM contract, foils attempts by Lois B Mayer to seduce her by becoming fast friends with his wife, and makes lots of movies few of which she is proud. She hates the frivolity of the Hollywood establishment, hangs about with the refugee community who bemoan the loss of European culture, gets married again and adopts a baby.

Only in the final chapters of the book does the reader get a glimpse of the brilliant Hedy. When a refugee ship filled with children is sunk, she remembers a conversation she had with a German scientist about the problem of guiding a torpedo to its target. She decides to design a guidance system to make torpedoes more accurate and to offer her invention to the US Navy. She and a songwriter friend do this in a few pages. The Navy rejects the design (fortunately she patented it) and she spends the war selling war bonds.

The only hints in the novel to her engineering brilliance are that she was a good student, read her husband’s trade magazines and books from his science library, and understood a problem that eludes both German and US scientists because she spoke to a torpedo expert for an hour at one of her dinner parties. How much more interesting it would have been to read about a woman who was a brilliant engineer but had to forego a career in science because she knew people would judge her for her beauty, not her brain. Instead, she is portrayed as an actress who, with little expertise, somehow manages to invent the field of Spread Spectrum Technology by thinking of a player piano roll
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LibraryThing member hubblegal
Hedwig Kiesler is a young wealthy Jewish girl living in Vienna. She longs to be a famous actress but also is interested in science. Her father encourages her to pursue both. She is just gaining respect as an actress when she meets her biggest fan, Fritz Mandl. Mandl has quite a reputation with
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women and as an Austrian arms dealer. But Hedwig’s parents are concerned about the developing hatred for Jews and believes a marriage between Hedwig and Fritz will save them all. Once Hedwig marries Fritz, she realizes she made a terrible mistake and is imprisoned and abused by her controlling husband. She begins to listen in on conversations at their dinner parties and learns military secrets that she passes on to her husband, hoping to use those secrets to escape from him. Those secrets lead her to become an inventor of a unique radio-communication devise that may help win the war.

I was completely riveted by this book and found it fascinating. I well remember the actress Hedy Lamarr, having watched many of her old movies on TV when I was young. I also knew that this beautiful actress was also the inventor of a radio guidance system that was eventually used in the development of Bluetooth and Wi-fi. But this book opened up her world to me in such a mesmerizing way. The author has a talent for bringing her characters to life. Parts of this book read like a suspenseful thriller and I couldn’t put it down. Most impressive was the focus the author gave to the difficulties Hedy encountered when she presented her invention to the navy and it was refused simply because they said it would be hard for them to sell their soldiers and sailors on a weapons system created by a woman and that they weren’t even going to try. And this was decided when they had a faulty torpedo system in place. She was told that she would do better selling war bonds. I was so glad to read in a postscript that many years later, in the 1990’s, she was finally given recognition and awards for her invention.

Most highly recommended.

This book was given to me by the publisher in return for an honest review.
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LibraryThing member BettyTaylor56
I really enjoyed Marie benedict’s two previous books CARNEGIE’S MAID and THE OTHER EINSTEIN so was looking forward to her take on Hedy Lamarr. I was NOT disappointed as she delivered the compelling story of Hedy Lamarr. Benedict brought to life the little known history of one of the world’s
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most beautiful women and, more importantly, highly intelligent women.

Hedwig Kiestler was born in Austria to a Jewish mother and father. While performing the role of Empress Sisi, she came to the attention of the munitions magnate Fritz Mandl. After a short courtship, his proposal of marriage was seen as a way to protect Hedy from the growing anti-Semitism of the time.

Mandl spoke openly to Hedy about the armaments and munitions he sold. Always the curious one, Hedy read as much as she could about the arms her husband sold and listened in on conversations he held with business partners. The men never imagined that this beautiful woman had any interest in or understood their conversations.

Mandl became more and more controlling and Hedy knew she had to escape his powerful clutches. She flees to England and then to Hollywood where Jewish actors and actresses were fleeing to as they could not perform in Europe. She quickly becomes one of the highest paid performers and is dubbed the most beautiful woman in the world. But over her hangs a cloud of guilt.

Knowing what she did, could she have prevented some of the senseless deaths of European Jews? She now draws on her scientific knowledge to develop equipment to shorten the war thus saving lives. But her real challenge is getting someone to listen to her.

This is a commanding novel based on the true story of actress Hedy Lamarr whose patented idea laid the foundation for secure communications and cellphone technology.

The story was so riveting I flew through the pages losing all track of time. This is a story not to be forgotten.
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LibraryThing member kimkimkim
May 17, 1933, Vienna, Austria, Hedwig Kiesler had just given an extraordinary performance which was appreciated by all but especially by Austria’s richest man, the Industrialist, Friedrich Mandl. Austria is in a very precarious position and the fear of invasion by Hitler is very real. Hedy and
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her family reside in Dobling, a Jewish neighborhood, which would undoubtedly be targeted if and when an invasion takes place. Hedy’s father encouraged her to entertain Mandy’s affection in the hope that it will keep Hedy and her parents safe. Mandl dictated everything including which dress she will wear to her wedding, the venue and all the wedding plans, their dinner party menus, their life. Unfortunately marriage to an insanely jealous, powerful, politically connected man does not make for a happy fairy tale.

Marie Benedict does an admirable job of describing the circumstances which forced Hedy Kiesler Mandl to plot, flee and recreate herself to survive. The trip to the United States from London aboard the SS Normandie and her subsequent meeting with Louis B Mayer and his wife, Margaret rechristened her Hedy Lamarr. Her shrewd negotiating led to an MGM contract higher in value than thought possible.

I had read a bit about Hedy Lamarr and so was informed about her scientific knowledge and her inventions. The marginalization of her ideas and inventions by the military and the men who who were in control was less than surprising. The problem area for me was the survivor’s guilt issue which was repeated more than I thought necessary. I also found it interesting that no time or attention was given to her later life and her decline. The ending was a bit of a left turn for me.

This was just a short hair from 4 stars but I am rounding up for the abundant research and the excellent writing. Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for a copy.
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LibraryThing member teachlz
Lindas Book Obsession Reviews “The Only Woman in the Room” by Marie Benedict Sourcebooks Landmark, January 8, 2019

Lindas Book Obsession Reviews “The Only Woman in the Room” by Marie Benedict, Sourcebooks Landmark, January 8, 2019

Marie Benedict, Author of “The Only Woman in the Room” has
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written an intriguing, captivating, dramatic, entertaining, suspenseful and intense novel. The Genres for this novel are Historical Fiction and Fiction. The timeline for the story is around World War Two. The story goes into the past when it pertains to the characters or events in the story. The story takes place in Austria, and in Hollywood California. The Author describes her colorful cast of characters as complex and complicated.

Hedy Kiesler is a Jewish actress in Austria. Hedy is described as gorgeous and talented. The time is just before World War Two, and the political feel in Austria is tense. For her safety, her parents are convinced to let her marry a wealthy and political munitions dealer. Her husband is supposed to be a guarantee to protect her from Nazi Germany. He is friends with Benito Mussolini. Hedy and her husband get married in church. Hedy realizes that he is abusive, and as the political climate changes, she tries to escape. There are many things that Hedy hears in the house.

Eventually Hedy arranges to escape, and gets to Hollywood. She becomes Hedy Lamarr.

Hedy Lamarr is one of the most famous and beautiful actresses, but liked to experiment with scientific projects. Some of her ideas were brought to the attention of the United States Navy. They were initially dismissed because Hedy was a woman. It is only years later, that we realize how intelligent and powerful she was.

I loved the way Marie Benedict vividly described the landscape and scenery in Austria, and the Hollywood scene. I would highly recommend this amazing novel for readers who enjoy Historical Fiction. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.
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LibraryThing member fredreeca
Hedy Lamarr was a lady with many faces. She was raised in Austria. She became a well-known actress with a risqué movie to her credit. Then she was wooed by an arms dealer. To help protect her family, she marries him. She literally became a prisoner in her own home. She overhears many discussions
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and secrets. At this time in her life, she has no idea what to do with these secrets. Then, she finally escapes! It took a few failed attempts with severe consequences.

Marie Benedict did a fantastic job with Hedy Lamarr. I knew a little about her but, apparently, not enough. What a strong, amazing woman. She escapes an abusive husband, takes on Hollywood, and creates a communications marvel to help take on the Nazis. How did I not know this! I love strong women. Hedy Lamarr just topped the list.

I love Marie Benedict! She always teaches me something. I have read all her books and this is her best. And I have given her other books 5 stars! But this one….oh boy!
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LibraryThing member miss.mesmerized
Hedy Lamarr – Hollywood Star of the glorious 1940s with an unknown past. She grew up in Vienna where she had her first successful performances which attracted the attention of Fritz Mandl, an influential military arms manufacturer. Being Jewish wasn’t that big a problem at the time, but her
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father already felt that refusing a man like Mandl added to their religion wasn’t a good idea and thus, she first accepted the invitation to dinner and finally married him. But soon after their honeymoon, things changed drastically and the only role she was allowed to play was that of the silent wife who was nice to look at. What her husband did underestimate was her quick wit and her capacity of listening. And listen she did when he met the big players who prepared for a new world order with the help of her husband’s weapons. After her successful escape to the US, she used her intelligence and her knowledge for revenge: she developed a radio guidance system for torpedoes.

Admittedly, I had never heard of Hedy Lamarr before starting to read the novel. And even at the beginning I supposed the protagonist was simply a fictional character. When I became aware of the actual background, the woman’s life felt even more impressive than just the narration which I already liked a lot.

The actress is the narrator and centre of the novel and it does not take too long for the reader to figure out that she isn’t just the nice face and talented actress but a smart woman interested in everyday politics with a sharp and alert mind. She follows her father’s line of thoughts about Mandl’s advances and understands that she isn’t in a position to freely decide. The way she planned her escape shows not only how clever she can plot but also her courage. In America she is first reduced to the beautiful actress and it surely hit her hard when her invention was refused by the navy. If it rally was because she was a woman as the novel suggests or if there were other motives doesn’t really matter – she wasn’t recognised for what she was, but only for what people saw in her. Hopefully narratives of these kind of women help to change the mind of those who still believe that the looks go hand in hand with a simple mind.
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LibraryThing member ethel55
I was really excited to read this, having just recently learned about Hedy Lamarr's scientific contributions. The book is broken into two sections, the first detailing her marriage to an Austrian arms dealer on the eve of WWII, Fritz Mandel. She is still Hedy Keisler, Mandl sweeps her off her feet,
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and with the blessing (and cautions) of her father, marries him after only a few months. It doesn't take long to realize this won't end well for Austria, when dinner party after dinner party take place with an increasing political edge. Hedy eventually escapes to London, and the second part of the book, which find her in Hollywood, under contract with Louis B. Mayer. She eventually teams up with composer George Antheil and they do patent their wave type technology, but it goes no where with the war effort, which Is what she was hoping all along. The book just wasn't fleshed out enough, it felt really short, more like a list of accomplishments.
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LibraryThing member busyreadin
I wanted rate this book higher. Hedy Lamarr was an interesting woman and I wanted to know more about her...and then the book just stopped! No closure no idea of what happened to her. Disappointing
LibraryThing member John_Warner
When Hedy Kiesler began dating Fritz Mandl, the wealthiest pre-WW2 Austrian , she hoped that marriage would protect her family from the growing anti-Semitic sentiment growing in Austria. Fritz Mandl, although Jewish like Hedy, was valued by the Germans as a munitions manufacturer therefore was
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designated an honorary Aryan. However, when it becomes increasingly clear that Fritz could not shelter her family, Hedy makes plans to escape her controlling husband.

This is the story how Hedy Kiesler became the famousHollywood actress, Hedy Lamarr. It is also a little known story of how this intelligent young woman, guilt-ridden for not informing the United States of military secrets she gleaned from the various parties her husband hosted with political and military leaders turns to science as an inventor hoping to develop something that would help the Allies fight the Axis powers, if anyone would believe in her.

Although what I read I enjoyed, I wish the author would have provide more depth. This book was appeared to be more an outline one would provide to publishers in prospect. This novel needed more "meat on its bones."
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LibraryThing member Lauranthalas
A wonderful novel about the actress Hedy (Keisler) Lamarr, who was married to an Austrian arms dealer during a difficult time in history and then she eventually makes it to Hollywood. Hedy is known for her beauty but she was also a very intelligent woman, especially in the field of science, who was
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often disregarded because of her looks. Overall I really enjoyed the book but I wanted more about Hedy’s life.

“A powerful novel based on the incredible true story of the glamour icon and scientist whose groundbreaking invention revolutionized modern communication.”
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LibraryThing member Sheila1957
Starting with Hedy Lamarr as a 19-year-old Austrian actress known as Hedy Kiesler, we see Hedy's life during the escalation of Germany's take over of Europe. Hoping to keep herself and her family safe she marries arms manufacturer and dealer Fritz Mandl to whom she is a trophy wife. After escaping
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a marriage that becomes unbearable Hedy gets to the US where she becomes Hedy Lamarr, Hollywood actress. Worrying about what she overheard in Austria but did not act upon, she develops a torpedo system for the Navy which is rejected. That technology is used to create wi-fi that we use today.

Hedy led an interesting life. She is caught up in the lead up to WWII and meets many historical people through her marriage. When she escapes she comes to Hollywood and resumes acting. She is intelligent but, unfortunately, is not recognized for her intelligence. I liked her. She was fascinating and talented on so many levels. She is a role model.

I enjoyed this book. I finished it in one day because I was so caught up in the story. I loved the first person point-of-view. This is a keeper.
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LibraryThing member HandelmanLibraryTINR
A powerful novel based on the incredible true story of the glamour icon and scientist whose groundbreaking invention revolutionized modern communication
LibraryThing member jmchshannon
The Only Woman in the Room is the remarkable story of Hedy Lamarr. Starting with her early adulthood in Austria during the rise of National Socialism and Hitler’s Germany and ending with her struggles to develop a means to keep American submarines safe from enemy fire, we learn about Hedy’s
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abilities as well as her loneliness. I have seen other readers criticize the novel for rushing through some of Hedy’s life, with the most significant criticism coming from her scientific tinkering that seems to appear out of nowhere. In my mind, careful reading explains all this, and I like how Ms. Benedict introduces Hedy’s experimental nature. It is subtle, but then again, any woman married to her first husband would have to be subtle in how she expresses herself and shows her intelligence. I found no faults with the way Ms. Benedict tells Hedy’s story, which I found fascinating from start to finish. Hedy was not afraid to take chances, even though those chances could harm her in some way. From appearing naked on-screen to attempting to flee from her abusive husband to fighting for increased wages to developing prototypes designed to help the U. S. Navy, she was always a woman who knew her mind and was not afraid to do what she deemed necessary. Ms. Lamarr was a woman who reminds us that we should always be true to ourselves, and Ms. Benedict’s novel is a fitting tribute to an amazing woman.
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LibraryThing member nivramkoorb
This is my 3rd book by Marie Benedict. Her sister is my next door neighbor so she keeps me abreast of what she is working on. Benedict has found a good niche with her stories about women and their influence on historical events. In all cases the women were not given the opportunities to display the
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full range of their talents. Although the book is considered fiction, the events in Hedy Lamarr's life are for the most part accurately presented. The book does a very good job of showing the growth and maturation of Lamarr as she moves from her Austrian heritage and narrow type casting that was the fate of women in the 1930's. She really feels the developing shadow of the Nazi takeover of Austria and Lamarr(still Hedy Keisler at that time) realizes that she is more than a pretty face. Ultimately she gets to Hollywood as an actress known for her great beauty. However, she also possesses great intellect and is able to create a breakthrough technology that could help the war effort but prejudices against women does not allow this to come to fruition. The story is well told and though we want to know more about what happens to Lamarr after 1942, the fact that she is a real person allows the reader to explore that on their own. Some people criticized the brevity of the book but I believe that Benedict accomplished what she set out to do. Show where Lamarr came from and her contributions beyond her screen career.
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LibraryThing member nancyadair
3.5
There is nothing new under the sun. It was true in the Third Century B.C. when the writer of Ecclesiastes wrote it and it is true in 2018.

And one of the perennial truths is that women are valued for their beauty and preyed upon for sex and must fight for equality in their vocations and
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avocations.

Take Hedy Lamarr, the gorgeous Austrian born star. Marie Benedict's new historical fiction novel The Only Woman in the Room peels back the Hollywood-packaged icon of female physical perfection and offers us a woman who would be in the #MeToo marches and fighting to be taken seriously as an inventor.

I had seen the fascinating American Masters show Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story and was interested to see how Benedict handled Lamarr's exceptional story. Although I have some issues with the writing, I believe that the importance of bringing Lamarr's story to the general public in an accessible venue is more important. The book is a page-turner, quick and easy to read. It hits all the hot-button issues in contemporary society: Antisemitism, abuse and control of women, the power used by Hollywood moguls over starlets, immigration and refugees. Throw in marriage and divorce, adoption, and single moms. And no, the book is not fiction written to address these issues! Hedy Lamarr's life touched on them all.

If all you know about Hedy Lamarr is her films or "It's Hedley!" from Mel Brooks movie Blazing Saddles, you need to read this book

Benedict's previous books include The Other Einstein and Carnegie's Maid. Learn more about them here.

I received an ARC from bookreporter.com in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
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LibraryThing member hemlokgang
Color me impressed! I had absolutely no idea about Hedy Lamar's incredible life. I knew she was an iconic beauty in Hollywood, but had no idea whatsoever about her first marriage to an Austrian arms dealer, her escape to the USA, and her invention of significant torpedo technology during WWII. I
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was engaged from the beginning of the Audiobook and the pace never slackened. I am not always a fan of fictionalized history, but this is an exception. Outstanding read!
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LibraryThing member JReynolds1959
Hedy Keisler was a young aspiring actress in Vienna in 1933. She was gorgeous and her acting was well received. She had done a movie before acting on the stage, but it had not received a lot of notice.
In the audience one night, a gentleman showered her with flowers. He also introduced himself to
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her mother and father and proceeded to court Miss Keisler. The gentleman in question was Fritz Mandl, the richest man in Austria at the time.
They ended up marrying and Mr. Mandl was the owner of the largest munitions company supplying weapons to anyone who needed them. Hitler was advancing, but Austria was trying to stay independent.
Hedy becomes the glitter part of the marriage, the pretty face that Fritz loves to show off. Then things get blatantly abject and Hedy has to make a move to get away.
Hedy Lamarr was gorgeous and a star, but there really was so much more to this woman than that.

This book was written with a lot of research into a past that we didn't know too much about. Kudos for championing this woman and all of her intelligence, which she was never given the credit for.
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LibraryThing member etxgardener
Over the past decade, it’s been a fairly well known fact that Hedy Lamar was much more than a pretty face, but had patented a method for torpedo accuracy during World War II, however, I did not know of her early marriage to a Nazi arms dealer that may have given her acts during the war an air of
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atonement. I listened to this as an Audible book and the excellent narration gave the book an extra level of drama and suspense
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LibraryThing member jetangen4571
historical-figures, historical-novel

Interesting historical novel with a political agenda. Too much novelization for my taste, and the stance that the ONLY reason for the rejection of the plans for the torpedo launching device was that she was female is nonsense. Try the additions that neither she
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nor her male design partner were military OR possessed of what would be viewed as the appropriate academic degrees (try Why is Science Still a Boys Club). And the odd portrayal of her biological Jewishness without her apparent knowledge is disturbing. I expected better and was disappointed.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from SOURCEBOOKS Landmark via NetGalley.
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LibraryThing member BillieBook
I wanted so much more from this book. Hedy Lamarr was a brilliant, fascinating woman and while Benedict hit the highlights of her life, that's all she did—hit the highlights. This is a biographical novel that fell short on the "novel" side. Perhaps Benedict was wary of embellishing/fictionalizing
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too much of the life of someone about whom so much is known, but it resulted in a novel that was a bit flat. Another fifty to one hundred pages to add texture and detail to the incidents depicted or to include Hedy's childhood or something to add depth and richness to a story that never quite sparked and sparkled in a manner worthy of its subject.
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LibraryThing member Sara_Cat
I read this book as part of a book club, so I purposely decided I wanted to go in without any preconceptions or anything like that. As a result, I didn’t realize until the group discussion that it wasn’t merely a historical fiction/fiction novel but actually a biographical historical fiction
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novel about the actress Hedy Lamar. It did feel like many things would be stretches as anything biographical. But, if taken as a fiction novel with loose ties to history, it is rather enjoyable.
AFTER reading the novel, do read the author’s note at the end. That’s all I’ll say so as to give nothing away.
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Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2019-01-08

Physical description

8.25 inches

ISBN

1492666890 / 9781492666899

UPC

760789271717
Page: 0.5579 seconds