The Atomic City Girls: A Novel

by Janet Beard Narrated by Xe Sands

Overview

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.

“What you see here, what you hear here, what you do here, let it stay here.”

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.

Editorial Reviews

MARCH 2018 - AudioFile

Xe Sands’s ability to create dynamic characters that remain true to the author’s intent shines in this story of four people whose lives converge in the military city of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, during the last year of WWII. Sands’s smooth delivery, with a hint of a Southern accent, is softened for June, a smart country girl who is looking for something more than life on the farm. Sands’s voice takes on an edge for Cici, June’s more worldly roommate, who has only one goal: to marry rich. Sands’s portrayal of Joe, a black construction worker, emphasizes his weariness and how much he misses his wife and children. Finally, she captures physicist Sam’s struggle to come to terms with his role in building the atomic bomb, the world’s deadliest weapon. C.B.L. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

01/01/2018
Beard’s satisfying second novel (after Beneath the Pines) gives a human dimension to the lesser-known true-life events that took place in Oak Ridge, Tenn., during World War II. Eighteen-year-old June Walker leaves her family and simple upbringing behind to work at the brand-new Oak Ridge facility (where security is tight and breaches aren’t tolerated), learning to turn dials on machines whose function she doesn’t understand. Her roommate, the glamorous Cici Roberts, makes finding a husband her priority. In the bare-bones segregated hutments that house African-American workers, Joe Brewer works tirelessly while pining for his family back home. Meanwhile, June starts a romance with physicist Sam Cantor, who is working to produce uranium for the atomic bomb being developed in Los Alamos. As June learns more about the project, she must reconcile her own part in it with her love for the increasingly volatile Sam, who comes from a very different world. Beard’s fascinating narrative brings to life four people with different outlooks and dreams whose fates memorably intertwine. (Feb.)

San Francisco Chronicle

The Atomic City Girls explores love, war and patriotism, forcing the reader to consider the devastating effects of Hiroshima. Once readers learn that Beard’s own aunt was one of the workers, the intimate knowledge and specific details of Oak Ridge come to life even more.

Booklist (starred review)

Beard has taken a project of momentous impact and injected a human element into it. [...] This is approachable, intelligent, and highly satisfying historical fiction.

Madeline Miller

Both page-turning and illuminating, The Atomic City Girls brings to life an eerie piece of world history.

Maggie Leffler

The Atomic City Girls is a fascinating and compelling novel about a little known piece of WWII history.

Jennifer Chiaverini

Suspenseful and intriguing...explores an aspect of the Manhattan Project long shrouded in secrecy, bringing to light an important chapter of World War II history.”     

Stephanie Garber

Fans of historical fiction will devour this complex and human look at the people involved in the creation of the atomic bomb. A fascinating look at an underexplored chapter of American history.

MARCH 2018 - AudioFile

Xe Sands’s ability to create dynamic characters that remain true to the author’s intent shines in this story of four people whose lives converge in the military city of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, during the last year of WWII. Sands’s smooth delivery, with a hint of a Southern accent, is softened for June, a smart country girl who is looking for something more than life on the farm. Sands’s voice takes on an edge for Cici, June’s more worldly roommate, who has only one goal: to marry rich. Sands’s portrayal of Joe, a black construction worker, emphasizes his weariness and how much he misses his wife and children. Finally, she captures physicist Sam’s struggle to come to terms with his role in building the atomic bomb, the world’s deadliest weapon. C.B.L. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2017-11-28
In the 1940s, Americans—many of them with no idea what they're doing—work together to create an atomic bomb.June Walker is just 18 when she moves to Oak Ridge, a town situated within a restricted military area, to work at her first job. Along with many other young women, she's instructed to watch the meters and adjust the dials in front of her—she gets no other information about what she is doing. Surrounded by signs with slogans like "What you do here, what you see here, what you hear here, let it stay here," the women are ordered to avoid telling their friends and family anything about Oak Ridge. Most of the women June works alongside are able to easily avoid worrying about the true purpose of their work, content to distract themselves with flirting and nightly dances. But not everyone at Oak Ridge is in the dark about the weapon they're building; Sam Cantor, a Jewish scientist, knows that the workers of Oak Ridge are rushing to create an atomic bomb that will hopefully end the war. When he and June begin a romance and he tells June what she's working on, she must deal with the knowledge that she's creating a devastating weapon. Although June's and Sam's voices are most prominent, Beard (Beneath the Pines, 2008) also explores two more points of view: those of Cici, June's social striver roommate, and Joe, an African-American construction worker who faces segregation and poor living conditions. The characters, especially June, are well-drawn and sympathetic. Numerous real photos of Oak Ridge are included, which add visual interest to an already compelling story. Fans of historical fiction will devour this complex and human look at the people involved in the creation of the atomic bomb.A fascinating look at an underexplored chapter of American history.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170298624
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	02/06/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged

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