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sara_collier's review
3.0
I was expecting a biography type book but it turned out to be a novel of sorts, written in the first person plural eg "we" with short paragraphs and chapters. This made it easy to sail through quickly without attaching emotionally to any character or story - but it made me interested to read more on the topic.
pamelajobrownlee's review against another edition
3.0
The writing style was very distracting to me. I warmed up to it by the end of the book, and it was fairly enjoyable, and informative. But I had a hard time keeping up with everything being told from the "we" standpoint.
chava81's review
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
icz's review
3.0
Largely well-written, but as others have noted, the first person plural is a challenge. I understand the author's reasoning for doing it, and it does create a very particular mood in the book, but it made for a detached read. If you like character-driven novels, or plot-driven novels for that matter, this book is not for you. What is interesting is it shows indirectly, rather than tells, what it may have felt like to be one of the wives of Los Alamos, which I guess is pretty interesting. (If you don't mind feeling anonymous and amorphous for a few hundred pages.)
shelleyrae's review against another edition
5.0
"Some of us thought we saved half a million lives. Some of us thought we, our husbands, were murderers, that we had helped light a fuse that would destroy the world." p 198
In 1943, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the North American government established a hidden enclave in Los Alamos, New Mexico, drafting the nation's best scientists, engineers and chemists into service. The men (and a handful of women) were tasked to work on a secret enterprise, requiring them to uproot their wives and children with little notice and move to the South West, forbidden to reveal any information about their new position or location to employers, colleagues, friends, or even family.
While the technicians toiled away in laboratories and offices, their wives and children struggled to adapt to their new environment, making homes in flimsy pre-fab's without bathtubs or electric stoves, shopping for wilting vegetables and sour milk, surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards. The wives of Los Alamos created a community with dancing and book clubs and cocktail parties, cared for their children and sent letters home, heavily redacted by the censors. They remained largely ignorant of the work their husband's were doing until the day the atom bomb was dropped on Japan.
Nesbit reveals the stories of the wives of Los Alamos using the first person plural narrative (we, us). It is an unusual style and did take me a little time to adjust to, but I came to appreciate the way in which it emphasised the unique community and the wives shared experiences, despite their individual differences. The narrative feels authentic and convincing I expect that Nesbit relied on genuine research to ensure the accuracy of the details.
I really enjoyed this unique book. The Wives of Los Alamos is a fascinating novel giving the reader a glimpse into one of the world's most pivotal events - the development and use of the Atom Bomb, from a perspective rarely considered by history. I'd like to read more about the women's experiences of Los Alamos.
ejmiddleton's review
4.0
I have no idea what I would make of this book if I didn't live in Los Alamos, but it was interesting given our connection to the lab.
kszr's review
3.0
Written as all wives in Los Alamos during WW2, this chronicles the strange existence of the women that went to support their husbands as they worked in the lab creating the Atomic Bomb. Not fully understanding, or wanting to, what the husbands were working on, and the reaction once it is realized. Interesting, but due to the multiple voices it spoke with, not as engaging as it could have been.
onlymechloe's review
3.0
I pride myself on finishing what I start when I feel like giving up, but after reading about 30 pages of this book, I closed it, put it down, and turned on the television. I gave up on it because it was not at all what I expected. A few hours later though, when I found I couldn't quite fall asleep, I returned to the book. And I finished it in a matter of hours. Originally, I gave up on the book because I found the point of view unsettling and irritating. The entire thing is written using first person plural, a collective voice, a chorus, or a hive mentality. And I have never read from that POV before. And I didn't like it. However, when I resumed reading, I found the style both unique and poetic. It certainly gave me a sense of insight. BUT, I am a person who delights in getting to know the characters I read. And with this book, I felt that wasn't possible. All in all, I found the work lacking in intimacy, disjointed, but somehow still interesting and emotional. I would definitely try another book from this author, but for me, The Wives of Los Alamos was a bit disappointing simply because the idea of writing from the collective, though innovative and appropriate, was taken a bit too far and became overplayed very quickly. It left me wanting more from specific characters and I feel as though I missed out on "what could have been." This book was a wonderful idea; it just tried too hard.
mrsmdavidson's review
3.0
The first person plural throughout was very off-putting. I feel that that choice made the book very generalized, and at times, contradictory. I finished the book because I was interested in the subject, not because of he writing style. I would have sympathized and bonded with the characters and storyline more if it had been told in a different way.
librarianna81's review
4.0
shelfnotes.com
Dear Reader,
This book was so interestingly done, and surprisingly good despite its unique approach. The author wrote the book from the second person, inviting the reader into the "group" through the use of "we" and "us" - which also positioned the wives as a group, and I really liked that. This wasn't a story about one person's experience, but rather a kind of study about the situation that the families of Los Alamos experienced in the early 1940s. Los Alamos being, of course, the main project site for the development of the atomic bomb during WWII. I was fascinated by the shroud of secrecy that (understandably) surrounded the place. The government went so far as to make the scientists and their families go by different surnames, particularly if they had very foreign-sounding names like Fermi or Bacher (they became Farmer and Baker, respectively). The wives had no idea what they were getting themselves into, and no matter how close they were to their husbands, the men would not divulge anything related to their work. I can't imagine being in that situation as a wife and mother - uprooting your family in the middle of regular life, bringing them halfway across the country to a remote locale, being told nothing, simply obeying with the understanding that your husbands are working on something vital to the war effort. The women had to leave their parents and siblings behind (and could only communicate with them through censored letters; they were not allowed to leave to visit family members unless someone died). They had to say immediate goodbyes to the lives and homes they had established, as did their children. I suppose the lucky thing is that they were all in this same situation, and so while of course there was pettiness and gossip at times, there was also a strong sense of camaraderie between these women, no matter their backgrounds. They supported each other through such surreal times. They fought to make the best of a very strange situation - this included starting fights with the officials regarding the supplies and furniture they were allotted.
I just can't imagine what it would be like to live in "Sha-La," as they jokingly referred to this ultimately horrific site: short for the paradise of Shangri-La. These women kept their heads up and retained their sanity despite the close quarters, poor housing, uncertainty, new climate, and totally foreign landscape (in more ways than one). You may not agree with the Los Alamos project or what these people did there, but I guarantee you'll be as fascinated as I was when you read about it! I learned so much.
If, like me before reading this book, you are largely ignorant about Los Alamos? Do yourself a favor and read Ms. Nesbit's book. If only for the amazing history lesson.
Yours,
Arianna
Dear Reader,
This book was so interestingly done, and surprisingly good despite its unique approach. The author wrote the book from the second person, inviting the reader into the "group" through the use of "we" and "us" - which also positioned the wives as a group, and I really liked that. This wasn't a story about one person's experience, but rather a kind of study about the situation that the families of Los Alamos experienced in the early 1940s. Los Alamos being, of course, the main project site for the development of the atomic bomb during WWII. I was fascinated by the shroud of secrecy that (understandably) surrounded the place. The government went so far as to make the scientists and their families go by different surnames, particularly if they had very foreign-sounding names like Fermi or Bacher (they became Farmer and Baker, respectively). The wives had no idea what they were getting themselves into, and no matter how close they were to their husbands, the men would not divulge anything related to their work. I can't imagine being in that situation as a wife and mother - uprooting your family in the middle of regular life, bringing them halfway across the country to a remote locale, being told nothing, simply obeying with the understanding that your husbands are working on something vital to the war effort. The women had to leave their parents and siblings behind (and could only communicate with them through censored letters; they were not allowed to leave to visit family members unless someone died). They had to say immediate goodbyes to the lives and homes they had established, as did their children. I suppose the lucky thing is that they were all in this same situation, and so while of course there was pettiness and gossip at times, there was also a strong sense of camaraderie between these women, no matter their backgrounds. They supported each other through such surreal times. They fought to make the best of a very strange situation - this included starting fights with the officials regarding the supplies and furniture they were allotted.
I just can't imagine what it would be like to live in "Sha-La," as they jokingly referred to this ultimately horrific site: short for the paradise of Shangri-La. These women kept their heads up and retained their sanity despite the close quarters, poor housing, uncertainty, new climate, and totally foreign landscape (in more ways than one). You may not agree with the Los Alamos project or what these people did there, but I guarantee you'll be as fascinated as I was when you read about it! I learned so much.
If, like me before reading this book, you are largely ignorant about Los Alamos? Do yourself a favor and read Ms. Nesbit's book. If only for the amazing history lesson.
Yours,
Arianna