The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan

I really enjoy reading about World War II - from each country's perspective, as experienced by all levels of society within a country. This book was very different than what I expected however. Oak Ridge, TN was a secret town that was quickly developed - after the government took land from the farmers who actually lived on the land - to house people to work at all different types of jobs that assisted in the building of the first atomic bomb. These people didn't know what they were working on though, because everything was top secret. They were given a job to do, at a relatively good wage, and told not to speak about it or ask questions. Many of the recruits were 18 and just out of high school because they would just follow directions and not ask questions. Of course the top scientists were also recruited.

The book relates snippets of stories of several women's lives who worked there from 1943 (its inception) to 1945, when the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Although their stories were interesting, there were enough women that I couldn't keep them straight - and after awhile I simply stopped trying. I simply read each "snippet" as is and didn't worry about what I may have already read about that particular person. The women themselves weren't fleshed out enough for me, although again, their stories were interesting. Personally, I think if the author had just used three narrators, it would have been better: One elite female scientist; one mid-range-job woman; one black woman. That way we could see the three very different perspectives about living in Oak Ridge.

The alternating chapters were very scientific. Too much so. Very specifically we learn about fission, Tubealloy, atoms, and how to build an atomic bomb. These chapters were not terribly interesting to me. Too much science and way too detailed for someone who just read a chapter about how the mud in Oak Ridge ruined the women's shoes! It was just a really weird mix of a book. The people who would like to read about the process to build an atomic bomb would most likely not be interested in reading about the women's social life in Oak Ridge in alternating chapters - and vice versa!

With that being said, I DID learn something new about World War II and America's solution to end it.

Wendy's Rating: ***1/2