Every retelling of Tesla's story will capture my attention and heart, even if he's become trendy or passed from the trend again. And to have Hunt tell the story? Wonderful. Compelling, so many insights and thoughts on capitalism and dreams and humanity. ( )

This novel is a love letter... Several, in fact. It is an ode to the genius Nikola Tesla; an affair with early 1900s New York City; tales of tenderness between a husband and a wife, a father and a a daughter, best friends, a man and a woman, an unrequited love, and true love between a man and his bird; a flirtation with possibility.

Samantha Hunt has a way with words and emotions. She transports you to a place where you can believe in magic... More than that, though, where you actively seek it out for yourself.

She manages to weave several stories, meandering through the years and lives of separate characters, tying up no loose ends neatly, picking up and dropping off at a whim, mixing fact and fantasy, and still creates a beautiful, solid, gratifying whole.

Immersed in her story, I felt that absolutely anything was possible. Much like Tesla, I imagine. ( )

Really wasn't sure what to rate this. The chapters I enjoyed I thoroughly enjoyed. The problem is I only enjoyed about 1/3 of the chapters. I put it down a fair bit and read two other books before finishing this one, something I almost never do.
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In the 1940s, Louisa, a young New York City hotel maid who lives alone with her father, meets Nikola Tesla, who has been living in the hotel for some time. The narration shifts back and forth between Louisa's tale, Tesla's past, and bits of Tesla's memoirs, which Louisa finds and reads. All of it is wonderful, and I don't want to say anything else about the story lest I give something away. However, I will mention that the historically minded may be pleased, as I was, to find end notes pointing to sources for the historically accurate parts of the book.

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I didn't enjoy this one as much as I've enjoyed Hunt's other work. The premise seemed neat, but the writing just didn't do it for me consistently. It was similar to Lydia Millet's Oh Pure and Radiant Heart (time travel, the great scientific minds of the nuclear era, birds, the potential destruction of humanity), which I also didn't much like, so maybe there's something about this very specific story type that I'm just predisposed to feel meh about. It's a fine book, it just didn't tick every box for me. ( )