Marie Benedict's novel "The Only Woman in the Room" tells the story of Hedy Lamar, who was born Hedwig Kiesler into an Austrian Jewish family before the rise of Adolf Hitler and Naziism.

Kiesler was an Austrian actress when her family encouraged her to marry wealthy industrialist Friedrich Mandl as a way to increase their social standing and financial stability. She converted from Judaism to Christianity for the marriage and lived the life of a socialite, but Mandl proved to be an abusive, controlling husband. Her life became worse when her husband aligned himself with Adolf Hitler and began selling arms to the Nazis after Germany's takeover of Austria.

Hedwig escaped Austria before Hitler began to execute his plan to exterminate Jews. She moved to Hollywood, California, changed her name to Hedy Lamar, and starred in a series of successful movies for Lous Mayer's MGM Studio.

But Hedy was much more than a beautiful actress. She learned that American remote-controlled torpedoes were ineffective because Germans could easily jam their signals, so she developed a new wireless communication system that was nearly impossible to jam. The U.S. military rejected her invention, refusing to believe that a woman could create this, but her technology is used in many cell phone systems today.

"Only Woman" is a fictional autobiography. The author puts words into the heroine to tell the stories of her life as she transitions from daughter to wife to refugee to actress to scientist. Although Benedict invents the thoughts in Lamar's head, the events she relates are based on history, and the inner monologue we read is plausible.

Hedy Lamar was a remarkable woman who led a remarkable life, and her story deserves to be told. A novelization of that life is a good way to tell that story.