Brilliance by Anthony McCarten.

Brilliance by Anthony McCarten.

(Alma Books, 21^th March 2012.)

Short of money, the inventor Thomas Edison is captivated by the charismatic figure of J.P. Morgan, the “world’s banker”. Accepting Morgan’s glittering offer of almost unlimited cash in return for helping the man change the way the world does business, Edison sees himself descend from being the godlike inventor of electric light to being complicit in the invention of the electric chair. Ever more enmeshed in Morgan’s personal life, he becomes infatuated by a world of privilege and power, where duty and desire, faith and immorality are thrown into conflict, ultimately threatening his own spiritual and creative survival.

This is not a book I would have independently picked up off the shelf. It’s more my husband’s type of book. However, I was hooked on this story from the moment I turned the first page. It gives a “fictional based on some fact” account of Thomas Edison and his relationship with JP Morgan and how each man affected the other. The plot was interesting. It jumps around a little between past and present but it’s done clearly and the story moves along well despite the jumping between eras.

It’s shocking in places, funny in others and I did find myself really feeling for Thomas Edison. It’s a great fictional story based on a real man (hard to do in my opinion.) I found JP Morgan and Edison frustrating at times. I didn’t like Morgan much but I’m not sure whether I was meant to.

Overall, a great book and one that crept up on me and surprised me. If you have the chance to read it, especially if, like me, it’s not your “usual” type of book, don’t count it out. For me, it was a great book. Brilliance was released on 21st March 2012 and is available now from Alma.

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by

Laura

I'm Laura. I started Novel Kicks back in 2009 as I wanted a place to discuss books and writing - two loves of my life. As someone who has anxiety, these two things give me, and I am sure countless others, a much needed escape.
There is a monthly book club, writing exercises, prompts, reviews, author interviews, competitions and guest posts. I cover many genres and I hope there is something for everyone.
I grew up by the sea in Dorset and currently live in Poole with my husband, Chris and three cats. I love writing and have a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing from Falmouth University. I am writing my first book. If only I could stop pressing delete. Chris has threatened to stop it from working. Haha.
I have always loved creative writing since I was in first school and would very much like to meet my teacher, Miss Sayers, to say thank you for all the encouragement she gave me then.
When not writing, I love reading, cats, Disney, singing (I can't sing but this doesn't stop me,) and falling into a good TV show or film. If I could step into any fictional world, it would be amongst the characters in ABC's Once Upon a Time.
I love reading many genres and discovering new authors.