The Woman at the Wheel

By: Penny Haw

Narrated by: Caroline Hewitt

Inspiring historical fiction based on the real life of Bertha Benz, whose husband built the first prototype automobile, which eventually evolved into the Mercedes-Benz marque.

"Unfortunately, only a girl again."

From a young age, Cäcilie Bertha Ringer is fascinated by her father's work as a master builder in Pforzheim, Germany. But those five words, which he wrote next to her name in the family Bible, haunt Bertha.

Years later, Bertha meets Carl Benz and falls in love—with him and his extraordinary dream of building a horseless carriage. Bertha has such faith in him that she invests her dowry in his plans, a dicey move since they alone believe in the machine. When Carl's partners threaten to withdraw their support, he's ready to cut ties. Bertha knows the decision would ruin everything. Ignoring the cynics, she takes matters into her own hands, secretly planning a scheme that will either hasten the family's passage to absolute derision or prove their genius. What Bertha doesn't know is that Carl is on the cusp of making a deal with their nemesis. She's not only risking her marriage and their life's work, but is also up against the patriarchy, Carl's own self-doubt, and the clock.

Like so many other women, Bertha lived largely in her husband's shadow, but her contributions are now celebrated in this inspiring story of perseverance, resilience, and love.

©2023 Penny Haw (P)2023 Recorded Books

I loved how involved this husband and wife were with developing their passion to build a motor car

This was a great story about a partnership of husband and wife and the Passion to build the first motor car.

Women can be extremely powerful and loyal

Wonderful attention to detail, the family came alive as Bertha Benz a devoted mother,stood behind her husband and also lead the way to his success

What a great story!

I loved this book. I did find, however, that the narration was not consistent. This was the problem of the director who did not catch the voice changes being a bit off. It is a really wonderful story.

I liked it!

Very interesting to hear how the German automobile was invented and what a big role his wife played in it

Characters were real.

I especially enjoyed Bertha, but the main characters all came alive in the telling.
The last chapter, where the author tells what her research found and what she invented, adds so much authenticity.