historical fiction
When the electrification of the United States was in its
infancy, Thomas Edison held the US Patent for the lightbulb. However, GeorgeWestinghouse had also created, and was selling, his own lightbulb. Edison, the
master inventor known as “the wizard” of New York, sued Westinghouse and Westinghouse
surprisingly hired a very young, untested lawyer to lead his defense.
The Last Days of Night was riveting! I can’t believe it but I was hooked from the
very start. The protagonist was Paul Cravath, the 26-year old lawyer who was
hired to defend Westinghouse from the 312 lawsuits Edison filed against him. Because
of his personal story, I was on Paul’s side from the start. He was smart,
ambitious, hard-working, clever, and open-minded.
I knew very little about the electricity wars, aka The War of Currents, taking place in the 1880s—there were no government agencies in
place yet to police electricity. Rather, private inventors were installing
electrical wires through the streets of U.S. cities so that they could sell
their new electrically-powered devices to individuals and businesses.
Therefore, there was no regulation and safety was up to each individual
electric provider. Alternating current was just about to burst onto the scene,
a much stronger and safer alternative to Edison’s direct current generation
method.
I don’t know why I hadn’t previously appreciated what life
must have been like during that time. This book managed to be incredibly
informative while never boring. Graham Moore even taught his readers basic laws
of electricity and engineering so we could understand some of the issues and he
did this masterfully. It was all done authentically during conversations
between characters—often using Cravath as the student and Westinghouse as the
teacher.
The fact that Nikola Tesla was also in the novel, and
depicted as a seemingly autistic genius with OCD and social difficulties, made
for a touch of humor, heart, and suspense! I knew absolutely nothing about that
man before reading this book other than the fact that the automaker, Tesla, is
named after him. Additionally, the origination of the electric chair was
incredibly enlightening (pun intended)!
With a little romance thrown in, this book was extremely
entertaining and satisfying! I also loved the quotes from significant engineers,
scientists, and inventors at the beginning of each chapter. And a bonus is that
all these people were real and I was able to seek out their photographs and
brief histories. What fun! Truly, a fantastic read! I’m tempted to only give
this novel 4-1/2 stars because I was disappointed when Moore described his
fabrications and alterations of the truth. I mean, I had loved it so much
because the idea of it all actually happening was amazing! But, then again, so
much of it DID really happen and Moore’s creativity and artistry took those
truths, made the story more amazing than reality, and created a truly enjoyable
novel. The novel was honest with the fact that it was fictionalized history. So
I can’t hold the fact that everything wasn’t true against the author. Rather,
I’m applauding him for writing a fantastic book and my first completed novel of
2025 gets 5 stars!!!
The audiobook narrator, Johnathan McClain, was fabulous with
a wonderful vocal repertoire and accents as well as perfect voice acting! A+! I really loved this entire experience.
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