DRIVING FORCE
A fascinating new novel celebrates the woman who helped get Mercedes-Benz up and running
THE WOMAN AT THE WHEEL By PENNY HAW Sourcebooks
VERYONE knows the name Carl Benz, but very few are aware of his wife, Bertha Benz, and the huge part she played in helping him develop what became known as the MercedesBenz. Penny Haw, a Cape Town-based writer, hopes to change this and give Bertha the recognition she deserves with this novel.
Back in the 1800s women were expected to get married and have children, but Bertha always had the drive to do more. At age 10 she read her birth entry in the family Bible and was devastated to see her father had written the words “unfortunately, only a girl again” next to her name.
Her dad was a master builder and Bertha was fascinated by his work, often accompanying him on his rounds.
ELater she met Carl, who was to build the first prototype “horseless carriage”, which evolved into Mercedes Benz, but if it was not for Betha it’s unlikely any of this would have happened because her husband was very bad at the business side of things.
Bertha believed in Carl’s ideas, even investing her dowry in the enterprise, and she and their children helped him in his home workshop.
Because she was a woman her efforts were largely ignored, but Bertha got the chance to shine when Carl’s partners were threatening to withdraw, and she hatched a plan with her two teenage sons to promote her husband’s invention.
They took the “motorwagen” as they called it, on a daring drive across Germany to visit her family in Pforzheim. The vehicle was widely seen by people along the route and it proved the invention was safe and worthwhile.
The author has obviously done detailed historical research, and she includes notes which show where fact meets fiction.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story of a determined woman who was prepared to risk everything to help her husband realise his dream. Having read Penny Haw’s previous novel, The Invincible Miss Cust, I was already a fan, and I can’t wait to see which inspiring historical female character she will write about next.