Beautiful Invention: A Novel of Hedy Lamarr

Hollywood beauty. Brilliant inventor. Ambitious young actress Hedwig Kiesler is tainted by her nudity in the art film Ecstasy, but hasty marriage to an Austrian munitions mogul is no refuge from scandal. Repelled by his possessiveness—and her discovery that he supplies weapons to Hitler—Hedy flees husband and homeland for Hollywood. Professional success as glamorous Hedy Lamarr clashes with her personal life when marriage and motherhood compete with demands of studio and stardom. In response to Nazi atrocities during World War II, Hedy secretly invents a new technology intended for her adopted country’s defense—and unexpectedly changes the world.