A biographical historical novel covering a period of tribulation and transformation for Hedwig Kiesler, “the most beautiful girl in the world,” who achieves lasting fame as movie star Hedy Lamarr–and enduring influence as an inventor.
Margaret Porter’s historical novel, Beautiful Invention: A novel of Hedy Lamarr, opens with a teenaged Hedy Kiesler crouching naked in the Carpathian woods, waiting for the director’s clapper board to signal that the camera is rolling for what would become the infamous film Ecstasy. She’s young, she’s ambitious, and she wants to be an actress.
Before that dream can be realized, Hedy is charmed into an ill-fated marriage with a wealthy munitions manufacturer who becomes increasingly possessive and controlling. When she stumbles across evidence that he is supplying munitions to the rising Nazi regime, she uses her prior movie contacts to arrange a meeting with the head of MGM, Louis B. Mayer, and makes her escape.
When Hedy gets to Hollywood, she finds that it is all artifice: the clothes, the hair, the makeup, the body-altering diets. To her dismay, she doesn’t get offered any movie roles while MGM is in the process of transforming her into the exotic glamour queen Mayer has decided she will become. When the movie roles do start coming, too many of them are disappointing vehicles for showing off her face and figure.
The structure of Beautiful Invention is a straight chronology, but the passage of time is marked by movie projects and romantic relationships, so that we lose our grounding in place and time. Then larger world events intrude to remind us of reality outside of the Hollywood dream. As for Hedy, she is at her most animated and driven when she is involved in the war effort, including her invention of a torpedo guidance technology that can’t be intercepted by the enemy. Otherwise, she seems to drift from movie to movie and romance to romance. I was struck by how impermanent and unsatisfactory the romantic relationships of the major players in the book seemed to be.
The novel is well-written and engaging, with a smooth prose style that carried me effortlessly from scene to scene and chapter to chapter. I particularly enjoyed encountering the elite of Hollywood’s Golden Age in their offscreen incarnations, not knowing whom I would bump into next when I turned the page. Clark Gable? Greer Garson? Joan Crawford? A particularly fun chapter focused on Hedy’s involvement in the Stage Door Canteen, with the incomparable Bette Davis running the show, barking orders at star and starlet alike.
As I was reading, I did wonder about the conventions of writing book-length fiction about a well-known historical figure’s life. With a quick Google search, I learned from Writer’s Digest that the plot should adhere to the known facts of a person’s life, with some leeway to invent minor scenes, and the most leeway in inventing dialog. The author’s note at the end of the book confirms Porter’s research process in developing the novel. In addition, the author’s note provides details of Lamarr’s later life that raise intriguing questions I would love to see explored in a sequel.
I highly recommend Beautiful Invention for readers interested in the Golden Age of Hollywood and the women it defined.
Author
deannalynnsletten
3 years ago
Captivating, fascinating, and entrancing. These are just three words of many that I could use to describe this incredible novel by Margaret Porter. I was hooked from the very first line. From the moment young Hedy Kiesler appears on screen in the shocking film Ecstasy, she is destined to become one of Hollywood’s biggest, brightest, most alluring stars. But first she must endure her family’s shame over her provocative movie and an unhappy marriage before chasing her dream. A dream that will take her across an ocean and make her the most famous celebrity of her day known by her fans as Hedy Lamarr. Unbeknownst to those who idolize her, she is also a woman of high intelligence who has more to offer than her beauty.
Beautifully written with interesting historical detail, this novel is hard to put down. You feel you really do get to know Hedy and all those around her. Trust me—this is a must read for anyone who loves historical fiction.
Margaret Porter’s historical novel, Beautiful Invention: A novel of Hedy Lamarr, opens with a teenaged Hedy Kiesler crouching naked in the Carpathian woods, waiting for the director’s clapper board to signal that the camera is rolling for what would become the infamous film Ecstasy. She’s young, she’s ambitious, and she wants to be an actress.
Before that dream can be realized, Hedy is charmed into an ill-fated marriage with a wealthy munitions manufacturer who becomes increasingly possessive and controlling. When she stumbles across evidence that he is supplying munitions to the rising Nazi regime, she uses her prior movie contacts to arrange a meeting with the head of MGM, Louis B. Mayer, and makes her escape.
When Hedy gets to Hollywood, she finds that it is all artifice: the clothes, the hair, the makeup, the body-altering diets. To her dismay, she doesn’t get offered any movie roles while MGM is in the process of transforming her into the exotic glamour queen Mayer has decided she will become. When the movie roles do start coming, too many of them are disappointing vehicles for showing off her face and figure.
The structure of Beautiful Invention is a straight chronology, but the passage of time is marked by movie projects and romantic relationships, so that we lose our grounding in place and time. Then larger world events intrude to remind us of reality outside of the Hollywood dream. As for Hedy, she is at her most animated and driven when she is involved in the war effort, including her invention of a torpedo guidance technology that can’t be intercepted by the enemy. Otherwise, she seems to drift from movie to movie and romance to romance. I was struck by how impermanent and unsatisfactory the romantic relationships of the major players in the book seemed to be.
The novel is well-written and engaging, with a smooth prose style that carried me effortlessly from scene to scene and chapter to chapter. I particularly enjoyed encountering the elite of Hollywood’s Golden Age in their offscreen incarnations, not knowing whom I would bump into next when I turned the page. Clark Gable? Greer Garson? Joan Crawford? A particularly fun chapter focused on Hedy’s involvement in the Stage Door Canteen, with the incomparable Bette Davis running the show, barking orders at star and starlet alike.
As I was reading, I did wonder about the conventions of writing book-length fiction about a well-known historical figure’s life. With a quick Google search, I learned from Writer’s Digest that the plot should adhere to the known facts of a person’s life, with some leeway to invent minor scenes, and the most leeway in inventing dialog. The author’s note at the end of the book confirms Porter’s research process in developing the novel. In addition, the author’s note provides details of Lamarr’s later life that raise intriguing questions I would love to see explored in a sequel.
I highly recommend Beautiful Invention for readers interested in the Golden Age of Hollywood and the women it defined.
Captivating, fascinating, and entrancing. These are just three words of many that I could use to describe this incredible novel by Margaret Porter. I was hooked from the very first line. From the moment young Hedy Kiesler appears on screen in the shocking film Ecstasy, she is destined to become one of Hollywood’s biggest, brightest, most alluring stars. But first she must endure her family’s shame over her provocative movie and an unhappy marriage before chasing her dream. A dream that will take her across an ocean and make her the most famous celebrity of her day known by her fans as Hedy Lamarr. Unbeknownst to those who idolize her, she is also a woman of high intelligence who has more to offer than her beauty.
Beautifully written with interesting historical detail, this novel is hard to put down. You feel you really do get to know Hedy and all those around her. Trust me—this is a must read for anyone who loves historical fiction.