Reluctant Genius - The Passionate Life and Inventive Mind of Alexander Graham Bell
by Charlotte Gray
Reviewed by Dorothy Black
Alexander Graham Bell: we have all heard of him. This well written and entertaining book makes us feel that we know him as well. Even more so, we get to know his wife, Mabel Hubbard, without whom he would likely have been a lesser man and a lesser inventor.
In the nineteenth century, adventure and knowledge was highly prized and highly desired both by those who could afford it and those who could not. Alec Bell, the son of a Scottish elocutionist, was not well-off. But his wife, lucky for him, was the daughter of a wealthy Bostonian capitalist. What he lacked, she could supply - but what she supplied was not only money. She was a remarkable lady. Deaf from childhood, she seemed always to deal with her deafness with capability, intelligence, charm and determination. From Boston to Washington to rural Baddeck, Nova Scotia, the couple seemed always in tandem as they weathered changes, deaths, legal challenges and health problems.
Alec, a teacher of the deaf, came from Scotland a young man without social connections and social behaviours, who experienced mental instability but also great intelligence and a remarkable drive to invent. As his life evolved, his marriage was critical to his ambitions and general welfare. He and Mabel met and entertained such famous personages as Queen Victoria, President Garfield, and Orville and Wilbur Wright of flight fame, as well as many others. Their interests were surprisingly varied - from telephones, gramophones, flying machines and many other inventions, to the study of sheep genetics.
The distinguished biographer Charlotte Gray has written a well written, enjoyable book that portrays Alec and Mabel in an intimate way. While we may previously have read much about Alexander Graham Bell, we find in this book a portrait of his wife, Mabel Hubbard, that is equally fascinating.