Bestselling author Marie Benedict will enthrall guests with discussion her new historical fiction, The Only Woman in the Room. The novel shares the story of Hedy Lamarr, a glamorous Oscar-nominated 1940s film star, who was also an avid inventor and the figure behind advances in communication technologies that led to Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth. Tickets are $5 for members and $10 for nonmembers. To purchase tickets, call 843-723-9912 or click here

Set in 1930s Austria before the start of WWII, THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM introduces us to young Jewish Hedy Kiesler who marries the country's richest man, Fritz Mandl, a munitions manufacturer often referred to as the Merchant of Death. Fritz is responsible for supplying weaponry to Mussolini and Hitler in deals struck over the couples dinner table where Hedy was often the only woman in the room. Always the active listener, soon after she learns of the Third Reichs military strategy and the horrific plans for the Jewish people, she escapes to London and then to Hollywood. When she begins to suffer from survivors guilt as the military plans she had previously overheard begin to manifest, Hedy decides she must take action and help in some way. With the assistance of co-inventor George Anthiel, she utilizes the secret military information learned at her ex-husband's side to develop an incredibly effective frequency hopping weaponry system that could have ended the war sooner but ultimately ends up rejected by the Navy.

Once a New York City lawyer, MARIE BENEDICT had long dreamed about a fantastical job unraveling the larger mysteries of the past as an archaeologist or historian -- before she tried her hand at writing. While drafting her first book, she realized that she could excavate the possible truths lurking in history through fiction, and has done so in The Other Einstein, the story of Mileva Maric, Albert Einstein's first wife and a physicist herself, and Carnegie's Maid, the story of a brilliant woman who may have spurred Andrew Carnegie toward philanthropy. She is a graduate of Boston College and the Boston University School of Law, and lives in Pittsburgh with her family.

Tickets are $5 for members and $10 for nonmembers.

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