This is an author whom I had heard of but had never read.
She writes historical fiction based on women. This particular book was based on Hedy Lamarr's life. (she was a very beautiful and famous American-Austrian screen star from the 1940s). Hedy is responsible for co-inventing the early version of frequency-hopping spread spectrum, that led to our military using this technology in torpedoes during WWII. This was a fascinating story.
STORY SUMMARY
Hedy Kiesler a young girl when her dad encourages her to marry the richest man in Austria, who has seen her acting on stage and is smitten with her. By marrying Fritz Mandl, she will secure a place in society for her parents and her self and possibly a safety network from the impending presence of Hitler who is determined to take over their beloved country of Austria. Fritz is an arms dealer and is actually supplying Mussolini with weapons. Hedy's marriage is somewhat troubled as Fritz is very controlling. One of the requirements of the marriage is that she had to give up acting on the stage in Vienna.
Hedy is just another beautiful woman and very underestimated by Fritz and his friends. One evening she overhears some members of the Third Reich making plans while at one of their dinner parties, and she understands much more than what they think she does.
Hedy begins to devise a plan for getting away from the castle they live in and from her marriage. Her escape leads her to Hollywood, California where she becomes Hedy Lamarr, screen star. Not only does Hedy decide to keep her heritage (She's Jewish) and her first marriage a secret, she also doesn't reveal that she is really a scientist. A scientist with a few secrets about the Nazi party....the enemy. And she has an idea that will help her new country fight that enemy....she just needs someone to listen to her.
MY THOUGHTS
I loved this story! It was well done with the character development and most of her life in Austria took up most of the book. Fritz really was Hedy's first husband and she went on to star in films with such greats as Judy Garland, Charles Boyer, James Stewart, Lana Turner, among others.
I liked that the book moved forward rather quickly towards the end although some of the scientific parts felt rushed to me. In other words, the book had a great pace and all of a sudden we learn of the invention she comes up with, with George Antheil, the composer who helps her co-invent the frequency-hopping spread spectrum. Basically, the invention of wifi is compliments of Hedy Lamarr!!
She really wasn't just a pretty face.
In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 14 and older.
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 10.
3 comments:
That sounds a really interesting book Faith but I'm finding it hard to settle to anything that isn't romantic froth or escapism at the moment. On a more positive note our libraries are beginning to reopen. Not fully - you can't go in and browse properly but you can reserve books and go and collect them. Or you can opt for a lucky dip bag!
This sounds like something I would really like. I knew of her as an actress but just recently found out about how brilliant she really was and what she invented. I found that out by watching the tv series Timeless of all things. LOL. But she sounds fascinating. I'm going to see if my library has this.
It sounds good but probably would make me anxious :-/
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