The Girls of Atomic City

The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II

By: Denise Kiernan

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

At the height of World War II, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was home to 75,000 residents, consuming more electricity than New York City. But to most of the world, the town did not exist. Thousands of civilians - many of them young women from small towns across the South - were recruited to this secret city, enticed by solid wages and the promise of war-ending work. Kept very much in the dark, few would ever guess the true nature of the tasks they performed each day in the hulking factories in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains. That is, until the end of the war - when Oak Ridge's secret was revealed.

Drawing on the voices of the women who lived it - women who are now in their eighties and nineties - The Girls of Atomic City rescues a remarkable, forgotten chapter of American history from obscurity. Denise Kiernan captures the spirit of the times through these women: their pluck, their desire to contribute, and their enduring courage. Combining the grand-scale human drama of The Worst Hard Time with the intimate biography and often troubling science of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, The Girls of Atomic City is a lasting and important addition to our country's history.

©2013 Denise Kiernan (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Secret City, Secret People

In 1642, Dutch Golden Age Master Rembrandt van Rijn completed "The Night Watch". The three most important subjects of the painting are in sunlight, and the other 31 people - the military company of the two men in sunlight - are shaded, using a technique called chiaroscuro. Someone looking at "The Night Watch" quickly would notice the featured soldiers and the girl watching them, but miss the other people in the background, who are doing very interesting things - and make up most of the picture.

When I listened to Denise Kiernan's "The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II" (2013) I realized that I knew about the stars of the atomic program - Robert J. Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi, General Leslie Groves - but the whole story of making the atomic bomb has been in chiaroscuro.

Kiernan focuses on the women involved in the project, from Caddy (spelling may be wrong, since I was listening), a black woman janitor who worked overtime to help buy a B-25 bomber; unskilled high school graduates recruited from the surrounding area; well educated female statisticians and scientists who, before the war, had been discouraged from their 'unsuitable choices' for degrees; to Lise Meitner, a German physicist of Jewish descent who fled Nazi Europe whose research on fission was crucial to engineering the bomb itself. Clinton Engineering Works (CEW) was the operation of huge plants that extracted enriched uranium. One of the largest plants was built by woman-owned HK Ferguson, Inc, in just 66 days.

These accomplishments are astounding - especially for blacks and women who were paid less for doing the same jobs as white men, because, after all . . . Well, they could. That was as stupid then as it is now. I was pretty saddened to hear that blacks were segregated both from whites, and men from women - even if they were married. One black man, injured in an accident, had medical experiments conducted on him without his consent. A very well qualified black scientist wasn't sent to Oak Ridge because he would have had to live in a Hutment (shack).

"The Girls of Atomic City" made me realize that, like a quick glance at "The Night Watch," I'd missed most of the picture - and I didn't even know it. It's a great listen.

About the audio - well, I wasn't wild about Cassandra Campbell's narration. Her character narration was good, and I particularly liked the Italian accent she needed to use for some people. However, on the explanatory prose - well, there's no reason to elongate one syllable words interminably.

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Started great, but lost steam

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

In some way, yes. I liked the description of the women's lives, and how they had to live in Atomic City, but I found there were almost too many women to keep track of, and the secrecy aspect was pounded into my head. Halfway through the book, I had to mentally go back over which character was a farm girl, who was black, white, etc.

Any additional comments?

This is a good book if you get it on sale. Cassandra Campbell's narration was quite good, so if you're a fan of hers it's a worthwhile addition to your library. But on its own... I found it started off fascinating but then I just lost interest.

Interesting

A very ambitious book, probably with more detailed information than the average reader would anticipate or desire, but obviously very well researched.

An excellent story of the women in the background.

First I will say that this book was reviewed by Cynthia (http://www.audible.com/listener/Cynthia/A8P2L9UWYOZUM/ref=a_pd_Histor_c9_1_6_rwTtl?asin=B00G3EI0ZE) better than anyone could. Her analogy which compares this story to a painting by Rembrandt van Rijn is complex, deep and beautiful. I will not even try to match it. Having said all that -- I loved this book.

I was somewhat familiar with the stars of the show -- in particular Mr Oppenheimer -- but knew nothing of these women behind the scenes. I had no knowledge of the very sad treatment of the African American married couples who worked at Oak Ridge. I had no idea that so many women worked in complete secrecy knowing nothing of what they were doing. This book was full of surprises and learning opportunities. And yet it often read like a fictional tale with ease and fluidity. I highly recommend it.

Fascinating slice of history. . .

I so enjoyed learning the history of Oak Ridge, TN. The author does a superb job of showing the personal side through the lives of women who were there--but she also includes great details of the project itself. There's a terrific accompanying Website with photos of the time and place.
My only problem with the audio was the slowness of narration. Thankfully my iPod Nano has a way to speed it up, which helped my impatience and frustration.

Great Story

This was a topic I had rarely thought about with WWll . So passed it by for awhile -- but so thankful I listened to it. It was very interesting and brought a whole new outlook on bombing and the feelings surrounding it. It was so rich due to the lives of people involved to lowest to highest level. The reading was superb and highly recommend if WWll lover!

Tales of the Oak Ridge Mud Flats

If you could sum up The Girls of Atomic City in three words, what would they be?

Ants with purpose

What other book might you compare The Girls of Atomic City to and why?

No book that I have personally read.

What about Cassandra Campbell’s performance did you like?

Yes, she did an excellent job!! You really got the first person narration.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, it was enthralling and well woven. It might have taken two sittings!!

Any additional comments?

I am thankful for the exploration of the contribution of this bustling community to the war effort. I wish there would be more followup of whether atomic energy has done more good than bad!

Informative - needed more character depth

What did you like best about The Girls of Atomic City? What did you like least?

It was fascinating and informative. I learned a lot about a period in our history that I knew little about. I loved the author's decision to tell the story thru the voices of people who were there.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Girls of Atomic City?

The ability to keep so many people so successfully engaged while they had no idea what they were doing.

What three words best describe Cassandra Campbell’s voice?

Clear, pleasant, incorrect

Did The Girls of Atomic City inspire you to do anything?

I want to learn more about the same subject.

Any additional comments?

I really liked the author's choice to tell the story thru the voices of the people who were there. I liked that she chose a wide variety of participants so we got a wide variety of information. I would have rather learned more about the people and less about the physics. Also, the narrator's southern accent needs a lot of work.

Good listen

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I have read a great deal on this era, and expected this book to bring me a perspective of the women involved, but I felt that the focus was more on the project, and not on the women. Overall, I would say that this is worth a listen, and definitely good if you are just entering this area of history.

need to be accountable for our history

this book is an awesome part of history told by the people involved rather than how the government wants it told. it is good to finally be transparent and acknowledge that the u.s. had to do something and this was it.