The Invention of Everything Else

I kind of love books that mix real historical people with the action of fictional people. That is funny to me. Anyway...

In this novel, Louisa is a young hotel maid who lives with her widowed father. One day she happens upon the most mysterious and potentially dangerous resident of the hotel, Nikola Tesla, and her curiosity gets the better of her. When he steps out, she goes through his papers and reads what essentially ends up being the story of his life, including his rivalry with Thomas Edison.

All of this was carefully researched by the author, and although I've heard those stories before, it was really interesting to see them against this backdrop.

In the rather fanciful subplot, Louisa's long lost 'uncle' comes back into their lives claiming to have constructed a time machine and he is willing to take Louisa's father back in time to see his wife one last time to say goodbye. I guess the author's whole point is that memories are like that elusive time machine that science has been yakking about for so long...but that point sort of gets lost in the midst of the flashbacks, and flash forwards.

I really enjoyed Louisa's interaction with Tesla and Tesla's conversations with his old friend Mark Twain more than the more surreal elements of the story, and unfortunately Louisa's boyfriend Arthur (who was a very likable character) got his lot put in with the whole time travel affair, but all in all, I thought this was a pretty darn good book.

This book was published this year, so it is eligible for the Pub Challenge (5 down, 3 to go).

Recommended.

In other news: "Ugly Betty", "The Office" and "Lost" are all new tonight!! So there will be much to discuss tomorrow, I'm sure! Oooh, it's been too long, "Lost". Boo-Yeah! See you tomorrow!