June has just arrived in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, circa 1944. It is a town that has just been built, but does not exist on a map, and the job she’s been hired to do involves monitoring gauges on machines she is not even told the purpose of. Her roommate, Cici, is more seasoned and while she could care less about the purpose of her job, her real purpose is to search for a husband among the many soldiers who are stationed right here in Oak Ridge. Meanwhile, Joe, a Negro construction worker who has also come to the town looking for opportunity, misses his family deeply and just means to keep his head down and earn as much as he can in order to send his good wage home, while trying to keep his younger friend out of trouble. Eventually, these lives converge as their mission in Oak Ridge comes to a crescendo, and they all become swept up in a historical moment in our dark history.
This is an effective historical fiction novel about a very bleak moment in the history of the world. While it deals with this global issue, it tells the story through the lens of fictional but realistic individuals who were involved in the production of this most destructive weapon ever created – and used! – on our planet. It relates the social and political class and racial issues that were on everyone’s minds at the time, whether it was finding a husband for the women who did not have access to higher paying jobs, or accessing decent housing because of one’s skin color. It also reveals the attitudes towards the final product of Oak Ridge of each of the participants, which varied widely from pride to guilt. The army’s secrecy throughout the whole project is stunningly creepy.
I’d recommend this book as a both an important piece of historical fiction, and as just an engrossing read. I listened to it on CD and it held my attention the whole way through!
kindread spirits 