MADreads

Turning the light on Tesla

September 9th, 2008 Kylee

Samantha Hunt’s first novel, The Seas, is one of my all-time favorite books, and her second novel, The Invention of Everything Else, is almost as good. It’s a fictionalized account of the later life of inventor Nikola Tesla, someone I knew very little about before reading this book.  Actually, most of my information came from the movie The Prestige. I probably should read a biography of Tesla to get my facts straight, but I think the most important thing to know about Tesla is that he basically invented alternating current electric power.  This is what powers nearly all electrical devices today, but at the time he invented it, there was some controversy over whether his method or Thomas Edison’s direct current was most effective.  Though Tesla’s system ultimately won, he didn’t fare well during the media circus of the “war of the currents”, and spent the latter part of his life living in a hotel in New York as a mad scientist, nearly penniless.

It’s a pretty depressing story, and Hunt’s version is fittingly bleak, but she invigorates the truth with a story about Louisa, a maid who becomes an unlikely friend to Tesla; her boyfriend Arthur, who may or may not be from the future; and a time machine.  It sounds a little out there, but it works. Hunt vividly captures New York in the 1940s, and the characters she creates are fascinating.  The entire novel is elegantly stylized (much like the gorgeous cover), creating a surreal, engrossing atmosphere.  Even if you’re not a fan of science fiction, or even books about scientists, the way Hunt transforms science into magic is simply beautiful, and not to be missed.

Entry Filed under: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Science Fiction