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3.5 

The Only Woman in the Room

By Marie Benedict
The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict digital book - Fable

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Publisher Description

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

THE USA TODAY BESTSELLER

Bestselling author Marie Benedict reveals the story of a brilliant woman scientist only remembered for her beauty.

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 and understood 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 had an idea that might help the country fight the Nazis and revolutionize modern communication...if anyone would listen to her.

A powerful book based on the incredible true story of the glamour icon and scientist, The Only Woman in the Room is a masterpiece that celebrates the many women in science that history has overlooked.

Other Bestselling Historical Fiction from Marie Benedict:

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

Lady Clementine

Carnegie's Maid

The Other Einstein

61 Reviews

3.5
Slightly Smiling Face“It started out strong. But felt the second part of the book was sort of rushed. The best part of this book is it had me researching Hedy Lamar’s contribution to history. The author did well to invoke conversations about sexual discrimination and women empowerment.”
Likable characters
Slightly Smiling Face“I enjoyed this book. It gave me a perspective of history and how women struggled to make contributions to society and science. And then fought to get recognition for their contributions. Many aspects of the story are still relevant today”
Characters change and growLikable charactersEasy to readRealistic settingMoving
Thumbs Up
Believable charactersLikable charactersDescriptive writingEasy to read
“A good start to learning about Hedy Lamarr but not nearly as fleshed out as it could have been to make it a stellar read.”
“The Only Woman in the Room was...ok. I was excited to read this because I love reading about women in science or technology. This book seemed like it would hit the mark for me but it didn't. The large majority of the book was about her marriage to Friedrich "Fritz" Mandl and her film career. While that was interesting, it wasn't what I expected and I wouldn't have read the book if I knew that would be the focus of the story. I wanted more. The tagline for the book says, "She was beautiful. She was a genius. Could the world handle both?" but there is overwhelming emphasis on her beauty while her intelligence seems minimized. Benedict provides such a cursory overview of Hedy Lamarr's incredible and accomplished early life and makes it seem so vacuous which is shocking considering the material she had to work with here. If the intention was to bring Hedy Lamarr to life (and it clearly was), this book failed. She felt so flat and simply lackluster. Her contributions to science and technology were rushed through in the last 15% or so of the book. The pacing was off throughout most of the book with major events like deciding to adopt James, custody of James, and pitching the torpedo system invention barely taking more than a few sentences. It was painfully obvious that Benedict herself didn't understand the torpedo system invention well enough to thoughtfully share or explain it to readers. Instead, it is discussed through descriptions of piles of books in Hedy's home, a confrontation with her co-inventor's wife, and a lot of waiting for responses. Overall, I felt like I learned more about Hedy Lamarr from her Wikipedia entry. This book could have been great and if you want a book about Hedy Lamarr's early life with a focus on film you'll probably love it. If you want insight into Hedy Lamarr the inventor and scientist, you'll be disappointed.”

About Marie Benedict

Marie Benedictis a lawyer with more than ten years’ experience as a litigator at two of the country’s premier law firms and for Fortune 500 companies. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Boston College with a focus in history and art history and a cum laude graduate of the Boston University School of Law. Marie, the author of The Other Einstein, Carnegie’s Maid, The Only Woman in the Room, and Lady Clementine, views herself as an archaeologist of sorts, telling the untold stories of women. She lives in Pittsburgh with her family.

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