The Only Woman in The Room

Loved this book!
Of course I must say I have loved every one of Marie Benedict's novels.

Marie Benedict a fabulous author has written the story of a woman who was overlooked.  She was beautiful and an Austrian Jew and during the 1930s and 40s these were not traits that would give you authority or lend you ideas credence.  It is funny how even today with all the advances there are some women who still feel that are not seen or recognized for their intelligence.

The Only Woman in The Room is the story of Hedy Lamarr, whose real identity was Hedwig Eva Marie Kiesler.  Though most of us have heard of the beautiful, famous actress, she was really so much more than a pretty face.  Her beauty was a fact that she spent her life trying to escape.  She wanted to be seen for her scientific knowledge and her need to right a wrong she felt she had done back in Austria at the beginning of World War II.

This is the story of the woman we have come to know as Hedy Lamarr. But this story takes us back to her childhood through the start of her career in America. She started life as Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler, in Austria. As a young woman she came to the US where Louis B Mayer promoted her as the "world's most beautiful woman". But she was so much more,  an inventor and a film producer.   

Though Benedict shares Hedy's story in novel form the reader still gets a good idea of the thoughts and feelings of Lamarr and how she ended up where she did.  She lived in a dangerous challenging time in history.  She lived in the society of Austrian Jews who felt they definitely had assimilated  into the country they were living in.  Though she and her family lived in a Jewish neighborhood, Hedy did not know much about her Jewish heritage and did not practice the religion of her birth.

What a great novel about her life.  In this novel we are treated to the author's interpretation of what Hedy's childhood was like , growing up in a secular Jewish home in Austria.   She and her parents, who adored her, lived in a Jewish neighborhood, but were not practicing religious Jews. 

This book gives us a window into the life of people living through the beginning of World War ll.  The thinking of people as they watched Hitler come into power.  The disbelief that anything as horrific as happened could happen.  The feeling that each person felt that they were impervious to what was happening to others. 

When Hitler comes to power and is starting to look at encompassing other countries in his view, Hedy's father understands the future will bring.  He encourages Hedy to make a marriage that he hopes will save her and in turn her parents from the gathering storm.  That the powerful well connected man would protect Hedy and her family from the dangers that were appearing on the edges of society.  In the end no one is saved.  The Holocaust was tragic and no one came away unscathed.

Though it does for a while the winds are blowing and as they change course the dynamics change.  Hedy makes her escape from a bad marriage and the war by traveling to America. 

Then we learn how Hedy came to the US and became the major motion picture star she was.  We also learn about her brilliant mind and scientific abilities .  What she invented and how she tried to help with the war effort and the reasons behind her determination to help.   She was an incredible woman. 
Using her power of acting she encourages Louis B. Mayer to take her under his wing and feature her in many motion pictures.  She becomes the most sought after actress of her time.  But her most important contribution to society is the invention of frequency-hopping spread spectrum, which she gets patented.  This important discovery has been part of the technological advances that have led to the development of the cell phones we use today.

Hedy Lamarr was not just a pretty face.




                                                                                                                                                                                                 

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