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A review by nothingforpomegranted
The Atomic City Girls by Janet Beard
4.0
In November 1942, June Walker joins hundreds of other patriotic Americans at the Oak Ridge research facility and army base. Though most of the employees don’t realize that they are participating in the development of the first-ever atomic bomb, they are excited to contribute whatever they can to the American war effort, while developing meaningful friendships along the way. When June’s jealous (and bigoted) roommate interferes with not only June’s budding romance with Sam, but also the security of the entire project, June is surprised to discover an inner strength and confidence that she didn’t know she could rely on.
I really appreciated the patriotism of the characters, as well as the honesty of their complex feelings about the nature of the work they engaged in. As Sam and June both pondered the significance of creating a massive force of destruction, they also acknowledged the importance of demonstrating power, and at the same time, their qualms and debates didn’t derail the rest of their lives, which continued to be full of humor, movies, and dinner dates at the lab. The pacing of the novel was a bit inconsistent, packing lots of detail into the beginning and ending quite suddenly, which actually made for a nice in-one-afternoon read and mirrored the suddenness of the bombs themselves. However, if I hadn’t read this in one afternoon, I likely would have been bored or impatient with the slow-pace. That said, the multiple perspectives added layers of intrigue beyond the plot. In addition to Tennessee-native June and Jewish physicist Sam, we also heard from falsely upper class Cici (the roommate), Black construction worker Joe, who had to leave his wife and children at home for months to work this job, and several other characters, which added so much depth to the reading experience. Overall, I was happy to immerse myself in an unusual setting for WWII novel, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys WWII fiction but has been feeling burnt out by the glut of novels about the camps and French resistance.
I really appreciated the patriotism of the characters, as well as the honesty of their complex feelings about the nature of the work they engaged in. As Sam and June both pondered the significance of creating a massive force of destruction, they also acknowledged the importance of demonstrating power, and at the same time, their qualms and debates didn’t derail the rest of their lives, which continued to be full of humor, movies, and dinner dates at the lab. The pacing of the novel was a bit inconsistent, packing lots of detail into the beginning and ending quite suddenly, which actually made for a nice in-one-afternoon read and mirrored the suddenness of the bombs themselves. However, if I hadn’t read this in one afternoon, I likely would have been bored or impatient with the slow-pace. That said, the multiple perspectives added layers of intrigue beyond the plot. In addition to Tennessee-native June and Jewish physicist Sam, we also heard from falsely upper class Cici (the roommate), Black construction worker Joe, who had to leave his wife and children at home for months to work this job, and several other characters, which added so much depth to the reading experience. Overall, I was happy to immerse myself in an unusual setting for WWII novel, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys WWII fiction but has been feeling burnt out by the glut of novels about the camps and French resistance.