The Atomic City Girls: A Novel | Gal's Guide Library | TinyCat |

2024-04-19 8:32 am

The Atomic City Girls: A Novel

by Janet Beard

Paperback, 2018

Status

Available

Tags

Genres

Historical Fiction

General Fiction

Publication

WmMorrowPB (2018), Edition: Illustrated, 384 pages

Description

Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML: "The Atomic City Girls is a fascinating and compelling novel about a little-known piece of WWII history."�??Maggie Leffler, international bestselling author of The Secrets of Flight In the bestselling tradition of Hidden Figures and The Wives of Los Alamos, comes this riveting novel of the everyday people who worked on the Manhattan Project during World War II. In November 1944, eighteen-year-old June Walker boards an unmarked bus, destined for a city that doesn't officially exist. Oak Ridge, Tennessee has sprung up in a matter of months�??a town of trailers and segregated houses, 24-hour cafeterias, and constant security checks. There, June joins hundreds of other young girls operating massive machines whose purpose is never explained. They know they are helping to win the war, but must ask no questions and reveal nothing to outsiders. The girls spend their evenings socializing and flirting with soldiers, scientists, and workmen at dances and movies, bowling alleys and canteens. June longs to know more about their top-secret assignment and begins an affair with Sam Cantor, the young Jewish physicist from New York who oversees the lab where she works and understands the end goal only too well, while her beautiful roommate Cici is on her own mission: to find a wealthy husband and escape her sharecropper roots. Across town, African-American construction worker Joe Brewer knows nothing of the government's plans, only that his new job pays enough to make it worth leaving his family behind, at least for now. But a breach in security will intertwine his fate with June's search for answers. When the bombing of Hiroshima brings the truth about Oak Ridge into devastating focus, June must confront her ideals about loyalty, patriotism, and war itself… (more)

Rating

(129 ratings; 3.3)

User reviews

LibraryThing member TimBazzett

Janet Beard's THE ATOMIC CITY GIRLS seems to me like a thinly disguised fictional version of Denise Kiernan's nonfiction book, THE GIRLS OF ATOMIC CITY, from a few years ago. Both books are about life among the workers at the highly secret Oak Ridge, Tennessee, nuclear development site during WWII.

Beard could have at least come up with a more original title. Her book reads like a YA novel, with it near Nancy Drew-like characters, and simply did not engage this reader. I hung in for over a hundred pages, but finally gave up. It was simply too bland for my taste. It might interest younger readers, but I doubt it. Not recommended.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER

LibraryThing member dgmlrhodes

I loved this story, which was a fictional account of the lives of some of the people who lived and worked at Oak Ridge creating the atomic bomb (most unknowingly). The characters captured my imagination and were extremely relatable. I also loved all of the real pictures from the actual community.

I

found it fascinating how the community came together. It was growing extremely fast and most of the workers did not know what they were working on. It was also interesting learning about the security measures that had to be undertaken during this time. All of this was intertwined with some interesting characters and events.

Reader received a complimentary copy from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

LibraryThing member lewislibrary

I really enjoyed this book. I had never heard of the Oak Ridge project and found the subject fascinating. Although the characters were fictional, I felt as if I could really be there witnessing it all unfold. I feel like anyone who enjoys historical fiction will enjoy this book

LibraryThing member jtsolakos

Thank you LibraryThing for an advance copy of this book.
The Atomic City Girls is the wrong title for this book. Only two of the main characters are women. The men have as great a part in this book and the two women. The fictional part of the story seems a bit routine and predictable, but was is

interesting and worth the read is the historical side of this story. The building of this city, the working conditions, the security, and the war are fascinating reading. I do appreciate the inclusion of many photos taken at Oak Ridge during the war, but would have appreciated having these pictures labeled as to where and what was happening in the pictures.

LibraryThing member sebago

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, via LibraryThing, in exchange for an honest opinion.
This book is a historical novel based in Oak Ridge Tennessee. In a highly secretive "town" a group of physicists are trying (and ultimately succeed) in developing enriched uranium used in

the bomb dropped on Hiroshima Japan. You follow a June & Cici - hired to work dials on large mysterious top secret machines; Joe, a physicist struggling with the ultimate use of the bomb - masking his unhappiness with alcohol and a variety of other characters. All in all I enjoyed the book - the added pictures courtesy of the Department of Energy enhanced the book very much. The title was a bit misleading, I was anticipating more of the story to surround the women and the part they played - similar to another book by the same name by Denise Kiernan. Hence the 3 stars.

LibraryThing member little-sparrow

It was interesting to read this book because I knew little, okay nothing, about Oak Ridge, Tennessee and the building of the atomic bomb. And although it is fiction, it is interspersed with actual photographs of the people and activities that took place there. The “girls” of atomic city were

from all over the country and usually fresh out of high school. They took the jobs because they were good pay in hard times, but the jobs were boring and top secret. Imagine leaving home for the first time and not being able to talk to anyone about what you did. I think the plot of the book could have used a little more work. It seems like the characters needed a little more depth or something. I enjoyed it, but I liked the last part of the book the best, and I really enjoyed reading the epilogue to find out what happened to the characters.

I received this book from Library Thing as part of Early Reviewers in exchange for a review

LibraryThing member Kikoa

I was born in 1942 I Hawaii, so it was interesting to parallel the dates. Less questions were asked and less information known. I thought this a very interesting view into history. My parents built a karapuka in their backyard to protect themselves from any Bombing from the Japanese.

LibraryThing member 3bythesea

The Atomic City Girls is pleasant to read and it was interesting to learn about the Oak Ridge facility. However, the story is a little simplistic, the characters flat and the historical details not detailed enough to make the book rise above those limits.

LibraryThing member MomMom46

The Atomic City Girls was an interesting topic because I didn't know about the subject matter before hand. I had been aware of Los Alamos but not Oak Ridge,Tennessee. The writing style left me unimpressed. A bit too bland and not engaging. This book will wind up on my rummage pile.

LibraryThing member aimless22

This novel, set in 1944, is a bit slow at first, setting up the three main characters - June, Sam, and Joe. All three end up working at the secret military/government facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee - a town built for the sole purpose of supporting the war movement.
June, a country girl from a

nearby town, sits in a cubicle and turns dials, not knowing what the dials do. Joe, a manual laborer from Alabama who came for the money that he can send home, works on the construction crew building the town up from the ground that the government bought from the farmers. Sam, a physics professor from California, knows exactly what Oak Ridge is for - making the uranium to send to the bomb makers in New Mexico.
The lowly workers are told not to say anything to anyone about the facilities. They live in dorms, small cookie-cutter houses, and segregated hutments and must show identification to pass through security at all town and building gates.
June and Sam begin a romance and he tells her what is going on at Oak Ridge. He teaches her about the science behind it, and he shares his fears about what their work will bring - the most destructive bomb the world has ever seen.
It takes a while for June and Sam to cross paths with the third main character, Joe. I found that delay a bit distracting.
I found Joe's storyline to be very interesting. His fatherly relationship with Ralph and his reluctance to embrace the burgeoning civil rights movement begun by the colored camp council.
The entire town was built to run 24 hours a day, with rotating shifts for workers. There is entertainment for the workers - movies, canteens, bowling, and gambling.
I found the life in this small war-supporting town/facility intriguing.
I would have liked to have spent more time with these characters after they realized what their work produced. The ending felt a bit rushed.

LibraryThing member BooksCooksLooks

I knew about the Manhattan Project and the goings on in the desert of New Mexico. Or at least what was taught to us in school and what I later read about in books. Who knows what really went on? What went on in Oak Ridge, Tennessee? Clueless. I will note that I am not a real student of American

history – I have always been far more interested in the times that happened much earlier than the founding of this country. That being written, there are the tales like this one that open my eyes to our history and make me want to learn more.

The Atomic City Girls is a number of stories really; it’s a tale of patriotism, a tale of government overreach, a love story, and most of all a story of its time. I don’t suppose any of us living in the connected world we currently inhabit could begin to understand the fear and worry of the people living during World War II when news was not as available.

There is the tale of June, a young woman from the area who goes to work in Oak Ridge not fully understanding initially what she is doing there but knowing that the money is better than any other job available. Joe is a Negro family man who came to the complex to better his situation but the black men could not bring their families and live together. And they are paid at half the rate of the white men – but he is still encouraged because he will be able to put money aside for the first time. Finally there is Cici, all class and breeding – or is she. She claims to be there because she wants to support her country but her motives are less than pure.

There were a couple of additional side plots involving characters in the orbits of the three main story lines. Ms. Beard does a good job of weaving all of her ancillary characters but a few bits do get dropped leaving some unanswered questions. Some significant events happen off site as it were and are simply relayed in a couple of sentences which leaves the reader a bit deflated. The book also ended a bit rapidly for me – I would have liked a bit more of the post WWII life. Not chapters and chapters but maybe a few more pages.

Overall though, I did enjoy the book despite these minor complaints. I found myself quite involved in the story – especially June’s. It has made me want to learn more about what went on in Oak Ridge.

LibraryThing member cattriona

This book started off relatively strong. Interesting environment, likeable characters, decent plot. But as things went on, weaknesses developed -- when a character relationship got too complex, the character disappeared one way or then other. Then, in the last chapter and epilogue, the author

stopped storytelling and just slapped together a few paragraphs about how everything ended, which I won't "spoil" here. Ultimately, not recommended.

LibraryThing member teachlz

imageWOW! Janet Beard, Author of “The Atomic City Girls” manages to write an intriguing and captivating novel. The Genres for this novel and Historical Fiction and Fiction. The timeline for this story is the 1940’s. The story revolves around the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. A

town is set up with segregated homes, and amenities for the residents working in Oak Ridge. Everything is secretive, and the workers sign confidentiality agreements. Many of the workers are not aware that they are working together to create an atomic bomb. Young women monitor dials on a machine and have no idea why.

The author describes her characters as complex and complicated. Most of the workers come here to make money. My favorite character is June Walker, an 18-year-old working her first job. She works hard and seems to be very laid back and quiet and I love that she shows growth in her character. She rooms with a manipulative roommate, Cici, who enjoys going to dances . June meets Sam Cantor, a Jewish top scientist who knows exactly what is going on with the atom bomb. Many members of Sam’s family were killed in Germany. Other scientists at the top are aware and have different feelings about making this bomb, and yet they can’t discuss it.

I appreciate that the author weaves several stories within the novel, and several of the characters become involved in different ways. This is a time period in history that is hugely ignored and I was amazed to see what is happening, and how the “Atomic Age” started. I would highly recommend this novel to readers of Historical Fiction. I received an Advanced Reading Copy for my honest review.

LibraryThing member shazjhb

Loved the photos. Very interesting story. Characters not always great.

LibraryThing member WKinsey

I loved the idea of a fictional account of the creation of the atomic bomb. Atomic City Girls gives us just that a fictional account of the people working at Oak Ridge. It is filled with a cast of characters that gives us a home like feel . Atomic City Girls fictional account is so good you want to

go and read more of the non fictional account of this time in our nations history. Thank you Ms .Beard for enlightening us to this period of time in our nations history.

LibraryThing member emilyesears

I received this book from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, I found this book to be very lacking. First off, its title is extremely misleading and is clearly trying to ride the coattails of Denise Kiernan's earlier nonfiction book covering the same

events.

Also, there are 4 perspectives and 2 are male--not great for a book allegedly about women. The two women are both heavily reliant on men--Cici is a gold-digger and June has little self-confidence throughout the book. The two women also hate each other through most of the book. I would have preferred a book showing their friendship or June gaining self-confidence through her own initiative. Sam could have been written out entirely in my opinion.

I liked Joe and his storyline though the blurb made it sound like he was going to have a much bigger role. I also would have loved to see Shirley's perspective.

Overall, I found this to be a totally average work of historical fiction. I didn't love it or hate it and I didn't find it particularly memorable.

LibraryThing member mpmills

Oak Ridge, TN was created by the army during WII as a secret facility to aid in the development of the first atomic bomb. Young women came to work there with the promise of high wages, but they didn’t know what they were working on, and were not allowed to talk to anyone about their jobs. I

enjoyed learning about the facility, but had a hard time engaging in the story. I just didn’t want to keep picking up the novel. The vintage pictures, however, were delightful. I’m so glad they were included.

LibraryThing member Gwnfkt12

The Atomic City Girls is an exceptionally detailed historical fiction novel. It follows the lives of several fictitious individuals living in Oak Ridge working, unknowingly, on helping to create the Atomic bomb. The first half of the novel is pure imagery - setting the stage, portraying the lives

of people living through the war and just trying to get by any way they can. I loved the included pictures of Oak Ridge, which really set the foundation for this historical novel. But, the characters were lacking an essential element - I simply did not like them. With the one exception of Joe, the only character who did not lie his way through the story, every other character was someone I would not have wanted to bump into on the street. The one redeeming quality was the very end of the book, as the characters begin to deal with the implications of what they have done, in participating in the creation of a bomb that killed so many people. They suddenly became real people, well-rounded, while up until this point they were very flat and unlikable. I really wanted to like this book, even if simply for the fact that it was depicting a little-known facet of American history, but in the end I was disappointed.

LibraryThing member Lorelai2

In Janet Beard's The Atomic City Girls, we met June, who at age 18, is leaving home for the first time during WWII to work at Oak Ridge, a government run town that promises that the work they're doing is meant to end the war as soon as possible.

During her stay, she meets Sam, a young scientist who

slowly grows troubled about the weapon that he and his fellow researchers are developing. Over time, June and other residents, like her roommate Cici and segregated construction worker Joe, soon realize that the ultimate goal of Oak Ridge is to bring the atomic bomb to terrifying life.

Historical photos are added into to give more of a sense of time and place to the story yet Beard's writing is more than vivid enough,making them that extra dollop of icing on top of a supremely crafted cake. For a fictional take on the real life men and women on this project, The Atomic City Girls are grand company to keep up with.

LibraryThing member thewanderingjew

The Atomic City Girls, Janet Beard, author.
I thought I was actually going to be reading the non fiction book called “The Girls of Atomic City”, so my bad, since that one is non-fiction and this one is fiction. Still, I thought there would be more history in this novel. Instead, it seemed to

morph into a good beach read that was basically about various romantic relationships.
Four different kinds of characters were featured. One was June. She graduated from high school and went to work in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where scientists were secretly experimenting with Uranium to develop a bomb to end World War II, and all wars, they hoped. Her family’s land had been confiscated for the project. She was a simple and naïve young woman who had been engaged to someone who died soon after he enlisted. She realized she did not truly love him.
Another character was Cici. She was a mean liar and a phony who was like a chameleon. She took on the character and personality of those she wanted to surround herself with and did it well. She pretended to be someone other than who she was and was pretty unscrupulous about it, hurting those who stood in her way or threatened her. She pretended to be of the upper class. She wanted a rich husband, and she wanted to find him at Oak Ridge where men were plentiful.
Then there was the young Jewish scientist, Dr. Sam Kanter. He was unconcerned about his appearance and was deeply concerned about the purpose of the project. He was consumed with his worries and was largely unable to relax and enjoy himself. He drank too much and was a bit arrogant, pompous and condescending.
The fourth character was Joe, a black construction worker who was subservient in his behavior, by choice and necessity. He was content to be making more money than he ever had but disappointed and lonely because he was not allowed to have his wife and family with him. He missed them, but only white workers were allowed to have family housing. Joe wanted to remain neutral and not make waves, so he stayed out of trouble.
As contented as Joe was, Sam was discontented. He was not happy with much at Oak Ridge and made sure to let everyone know. As naïve and kind as June was, Cici was the opposite. Both June and Joe had alter egos, it seems, in those characters, and the author used the contrast in her storyline.
The author did a fine job of placing the reader into the time and place of the community of Oak Ridge. It felt authentic. Also, the racial conflicts of those times were definitely emphasized as the difference between the salary, lifestyles, food, accommodations, civil rights and social scenes were described and were alarming and unfair. They were all working to end the war, but some were far more equal than others and the racial divide was difficult to stomach.
The characters seemed a bit like caricatures of real people. June was an uneducated hayseed who loved her family. She had undiscovered talent and absorbed information like a sponge. Cici was a femme fatale who could play any part she wished, even though she was without a pedigree and without a family she cared about. She was hiding her past from everyone and never seemed to recognize her own faults, but rather embraced them. Sam was self-centered, a know it all who thought he was better than everyone else. Perhaps his redeeming feature was that he seemed to be the only one with a conscience about the war’s ultimate carnage. I thought he would want revenge because his family was being wiped out by Hitler, but he seemed to place himself above it all. Joe was the only one who seemed content with his job and his family. He had so little, that what he was able to get at Oak Ridge was a boon for him. He was happy with the lifestyle he had achieved for himself and grateful for the money he was able to send back to his wife and kids to improve their lives.
Some of the dialog was far fetched and overly dramatic. It was also a bit confusing at times, for me, since I thought it was odd that the Jewish character did not want to end the war, as much as everyone else, by any means possible. I guess I also wondered why the author chose Sam to be the malcontent. The hayseed, June, became a well educated character in later life and married a very educated man. The sneaky femme fatale found her rich husband and succeeded with all of her manipulative efforts and was satisfied with her life, even when it didn’t turn out exactly as planned. Joe was the only one who was not really able to move on and improve any part of his life. He had far less opportunity and choice. All of the characters, though, seemed to be a bit contrived to prove some point that escaped me.
In the end, however, the writing style was simple and easy to follow. It was straight forward. The setting was authentic, the racial divide and lifestyles of the characters were contrasted well and the author tied up all the loose ends neatly, although it seemed to end a bit abruptly as the characters lives into the future were described in only a few pages.

LibraryThing member Devlindusty

I absolutely loved the WWII setting of this story. And I learned so much about Atomic City and the atomic bomb. The characters were well rounded and entertaining! I received this ARC from William Morrow via librarything early reviewers program in exchange for an honest review.

LibraryThing member rosecothren

The Atomic City Girls is a very well-written and intriguing story about the lives and secrets of those who lived and worked in the Secret City of Oak Ridge, Tennessee during WWII. The title, I think, is a little misleading. I expected the novel to focus on June and her sister or on June and her

roommate. Although the story does focus on 18-year-old June Walker and follows her roommate Cici, there is almost equal coverage from the viewpoints of Sam Cantor and of Joe Brewer. Nevertheless, the characters--with all their own secrets, doubts, and prejudices--are sympathetic , except for Otis and maybe Cici. Besides revealing much about the inner workings and living conditions of Oak Ridge, including b&w photos from the archives of the Department of Energy, The Atomic Girls reveals the coming of age of young June Walker, who shows growth in maturity and admirable strength of character--shouldering full blame and consequences, shielding two very different men. The epilogue provides satisfactory resolutions for the main characters. This novel is an enjoyable, informative read, and I'm glad to have received an uncorrected proof from Library Thing's Early Reviewers list.

LibraryThing member Cherylk

I found this book to be intriguing. The fact that women played such a important part in history and war is very intriguing. The pictures included throughout this book was a nice surprise. It helped to bring the story more to life as I was able to image life back then.

The women that were featured

in this book was good. The issue is that I couldn't connect with them. No matter how much I wanted to, except for maybe June. Yet, even than it was more like a casual acquaintance then a friend. This was sad as this story was an interesting one that should be told. However, without the right elements of intriguing and an emotional connection to the characters, the story falls flat. A nice effort.

LibraryThing member ethel55

This was a interesting slice of WWII history. The story is about the plant and town that grew in the later days of WWII to work on separating uranium for the bombs later used in Japan. For many local farm families in Tennessee, it was a boon to their economy to have family members go work at the

plant. Secrecy was a must, and I thought the historical parts about loose lips and what would happen if they even wrote something in a letter very interesting. June Walker follows her sister to Oak Ridge, but I thought it was strange they didn't have much interaction. June lives with roommates who do work similar to her new job, watching needles and dials in a big factory setting. One of her roommates, Cici, is there to find a husband among the many eligible Army men. A black man from Alabama provides the viewpoint from their side of the town, and the jobs that are available to them. Rounding out the main cast is a somewhat disillusioned professor from California. While I thought the bones of the story were very interesting, I didn't connect much with the characters because I had trouble believing that they would all interact so conveniently.

LibraryThing member EllenH

Interesting historical fiction

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2018

Physical description

8 inches

ISBN

0062666711 / 9780062666710

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