The Only Woman in the Room: A Novel (Paperback)
Staff Reviews
A young Austrian actress marries a powerful arms dealer to keep her and her family safe from the growing Nazi threat. Despite her incredible beauty and intelligence, she is treated like a piece of art that her husband can display when he chooses. However she has kept her eyes and ears open and now must make a bold escape to save her life. This was an incredible story about the amazing brilliant beauty who became a Hollywood legend. I was fascinated by her journey and her determination to be seen as more than just a pretty face. This book has certainly sparked my interest to know more about the woman who became Hedy Lamarr. Excellent book!
— LisaFebruary 2019 Indie Next List
“The Only Woman in the Room is the story of a woman who recreated herself several times over the course of her lifetime, as an actress who was a constant disappointment to her mother, a wife who learned state secrets about the Nazis, a refugee who convinced a movie mogul to cast her in his films, and a genius who developed a system to track German torpedoes but was turned away by the U.S. military because they believed she was too beautiful to be smart. The story of Hedy Lamarr is so much more than that of a Hollywood actress and war refugee. The fictional account Marie Benedict has woven is insightful, moving, and impossible to put down!”
— Kristin Pidgeon, Riverstone Books, Pittsburgh, PA
Winter 2019 Reading Group Indie Next List
“Marie Benedict has once again brought a deserving woman out of the shadows and into the spotlight. Hedy Lamarr, although well-known for her triumphs on the silver screen, should be featured in history classes for her contributions to science. Compelling, fascinating, and impossible to put down, The Only Woman in the Room is another triumph for Benedict.”
— Mary O'Malley, Anderson's Bookshop (La Grange), La Grange, IL
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
About the Author
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.