Title: The Atomic City girls
Author: Janet Beard
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers
Genre: Modern, Historical, General Fiction
Year of release: 2018
Release Date: 29th January 2018
Rating 
Synopsis
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, twenty-four-hour cafeterias, and constant security checks. There, June joins hundreds of other young women 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 beloved family back home in Alabama, at least for now. But a breach in security will intertwine his fate with June’s search for answers.
Review
1940 America, for Tennessee resident, 18-year-old June Walker, the time has come for her to leave the family farm and do her part for the war effort; June packs her bags for Oak Ridge the town is based within a restricted Military area.
Upon her arrival June discovers that she is not alone in wanting to do her part to win the war against Germany, there are hundreds of women who now call Oak Ridge home, the women are tasked with operating machines, and their function is never explained. Employees of Oak Ridge are prohibited from sharing information about Oak Ridge and its exact purpose within the community; with outsiders to succeed in the fight against Hitler’s Germany.
Majority of employees are contented with life in Oak Ridge eager to socialise with the soldiers, scientists, and construction workers at dances and the onsite movie theatre Everything at Oak Ridge runs smoothly the moral amongst the community is high.
Some are enthusiastic about their work and others are in the dark about the purpose of Oak Ridge, the weapon they’ve been tasked to build and the ultimate destruction it will cause for years to come. This may be June Walkers first job but she’s not as green as she appears will her search for answers cost June and the Oak Ridge community more than anyone bargained for? Can she ask questions of a township if it never existed?
What drew me to Atomic City Girls was my interest in this time period and the Wartime.
When it comes to the characters in this novel, I found them likeable but for the most part I was not completely invested in their lives. June Walker makes for a suitable protagonist but there were times I found her to be somewhat naive and unbelievable; in particular her knowledge of the atomic bomb and how to deal with others when in the beginning of the novel we are led to believe she hasn’t spent much time away from her family or their farm. However, I was keen to see how her journey would come to a close. I found the plot pace to be quite slow at different times throughout this read.
Having now finished this book I have found myself questioning just how many characters is to many? Whilst I appreciate the variety of minor characters used, I wonder if less is more in this case.
I believe what kept my interest in this novel was the Authors skill in detailed writing “Oak Ridge” came to life across the pages for me.
“What you see here, what you hear here, what you do here, let it stay here.”Janet Beard- The Atomic City Girls
I found the romantic relationship between June and Sam to be somewhat predictable, but I think it helped move the story forward. When it comes to the friendship between Cici, and June I was somewhat disappointed as female friendship is something I not only look for in life but look forward to in novels. This element in June’s life was for the most part non-existent, leaving this reader a little disappointed.
As much as I wasn’t completely sold on these characters, I was satisfied with the ending as I found it wasn’t completely guessable. I also found the author has done well when it comes to tiding up loose ends, this detail making The Atomic city Girls a four-star read.
I must admit I didn’t know much about America’s involvement in the war effort against Germany, so I was keen to explore this further.
Recommended for mature readers, if you’re a reader of Historical Fiction and have a particular interest in WW2 than The Atomic City Girls by Janet Beard is worth a look.