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Fission: A Novel of Atomic Heartbreak
Not yet published
Expected 27 Jan 26For fans of Ariel Lawhon and Rhys Bowen, an
Oppenheimer
–meets–
The Rose Code
World War II novel of a young mother’s self-discovery as she is drawn into a love triangle with an atomic spy in Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project.
When nineteen-year-old Doris Friedman marries Rob in 1941 and has a sickly, premature baby, she trades in her dreams of being a concert pianist or a lawyer to become the ideal wife and mother. Within months, Rob is recruited to work on the Manhattan Project, and the young family moves to Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Just like fission splits an atom’s nucleus, Doris’s marriage threatens to break her heart in two as she is left struggling to nurture her daughter while Rob works around the clock. In an effort to find connection, Doris befriends Betty, a Southern debutante. Even though they come from different backgrounds, the two women sustain each other through difficult Betty’s miscarriage, Rob’s radiation exposure, and his subsequent attempt to enlist to fight at the front.
Despite her attempts to make life in Oak Ridge work, Doris falls for an army engineer—only to realize that he may be a Soviet spy. Should she turn him in and risk losing her marriage? As the end of the war nears, Doris must decide what’s most important—and what she’s willing to lose.
When nineteen-year-old Doris Friedman marries Rob in 1941 and has a sickly, premature baby, she trades in her dreams of being a concert pianist or a lawyer to become the ideal wife and mother. Within months, Rob is recruited to work on the Manhattan Project, and the young family moves to Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Just like fission splits an atom’s nucleus, Doris’s marriage threatens to break her heart in two as she is left struggling to nurture her daughter while Rob works around the clock. In an effort to find connection, Doris befriends Betty, a Southern debutante. Even though they come from different backgrounds, the two women sustain each other through difficult Betty’s miscarriage, Rob’s radiation exposure, and his subsequent attempt to enlist to fight at the front.
Despite her attempts to make life in Oak Ridge work, Doris falls for an army engineer—only to realize that he may be a Soviet spy. Should she turn him in and risk losing her marriage? As the end of the war nears, Doris must decide what’s most important—and what she’s willing to lose.
288 pages, Paperback
Expected publication January 27, 2026
2 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 29, 2025
Fission by Leslie R Schover is a wonderful historical fiction. Although set during WWII, this book takes place completely within the United States as we follow Doris and her husband Rob to Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Doris' husband is tapped to work on the Manhattan Project, a top-secret program to create the first atomic bomb.
As a reluctant young mother and bride, Doris first has to decide if she will move to Oak Ridge or continue her education. When she finally moves to Oak Ridge, she has to figure out her place in a world very different from Chicago. Will being Jewish be something to overcome? Will her husband's lack of education stop him from advancing? Will Doris figure out her role as wife and mother? What will she do when romance comes knocking - and not from her husband?
I was excited to learn this story is based loosely on Leslie's parents, which gives an emotional edge to the characters - and you know how I love a good character! This is a must-read book that will give you an insider's look at The Manhattan Project and how it affected not just the scientists, but all who lived and worked in Oak Ridge.
As a reluctant young mother and bride, Doris first has to decide if she will move to Oak Ridge or continue her education. When she finally moves to Oak Ridge, she has to figure out her place in a world very different from Chicago. Will being Jewish be something to overcome? Will her husband's lack of education stop him from advancing? Will Doris figure out her role as wife and mother? What will she do when romance comes knocking - and not from her husband?
I was excited to learn this story is based loosely on Leslie's parents, which gives an emotional edge to the characters - and you know how I love a good character! This is a must-read book that will give you an insider's look at The Manhattan Project and how it affected not just the scientists, but all who lived and worked in Oak Ridge.
July 22, 2025
A heartfelt story of a troubled marriage. Review by Roselyn Teukolsky
This review is based on my reading an advance reader copy, provided by the author in return for an honest review (the only kind I provide).
Fission, by Leslie Schover, is an intimate and erudite portrait of a Jewish American woman caught up in the turmoil of the Manhattan Project during WWII.
Doris Friedman, a brilliant young woman and talented pianist, dreams of a life of intellectual achievement and fulfillment, when her equally young husband Rob is called on to help with the top-secret production of a tiny quantity of plutonium.
Doris finds herself at Oak Ridge, cloistered in a community of wives, in a stifling life of housework and child care, while the husbands, dedicated to the cause, work late into the night to achieve their lethal goals.
The women fill the hours with food, bridge, and gossiping, an insufferable life for Doris, who also endures flirtation with a man who means nothing to her. Consequences, both large and small, of Doris's actions reverberate throughout the novel, as Doris strives to right the ship of her troubled marriage.
The author is skillful in showing how lives are buffeted by history. Schover's knowledge shines through her characters and their dramas.
Also, Leslie Schover has a smooth and beguiling writing style that draws the reader into this engrossing story and keeps you reading until the tale is done.
This review is based on my reading an advance reader copy, provided by the author in return for an honest review (the only kind I provide).
Fission, by Leslie Schover, is an intimate and erudite portrait of a Jewish American woman caught up in the turmoil of the Manhattan Project during WWII.
Doris Friedman, a brilliant young woman and talented pianist, dreams of a life of intellectual achievement and fulfillment, when her equally young husband Rob is called on to help with the top-secret production of a tiny quantity of plutonium.
Doris finds herself at Oak Ridge, cloistered in a community of wives, in a stifling life of housework and child care, while the husbands, dedicated to the cause, work late into the night to achieve their lethal goals.
The women fill the hours with food, bridge, and gossiping, an insufferable life for Doris, who also endures flirtation with a man who means nothing to her. Consequences, both large and small, of Doris's actions reverberate throughout the novel, as Doris strives to right the ship of her troubled marriage.
The author is skillful in showing how lives are buffeted by history. Schover's knowledge shines through her characters and their dramas.
Also, Leslie Schover has a smooth and beguiling writing style that draws the reader into this engrossing story and keeps you reading until the tale is done.
Review of advance copy
Fission follows the story of a young Jewish girl from Chicago. Doris sets aside her dreams to finish college and follows her husband Rob to Oak Ridge. Doris is one of the few wives that knows the truth behind what is happening day to day in the labs.
Doris is challenged by missing home, breaking the ice with new people, and being a young mom with little help from her husband. Rob ultimately becomes absent to her and over whelmed by his duty to work and create the bomb before time runs out.
She ultimately finds a way to make a living and find a sense of a purpose in a place that feels desolate at times. Doris also finds herself in situations she never would have imagined.
Overall the book was entertaining and a quick read. It felt like a page turner but at times I wanted more depth to the plot. I felt like the biggest climax in the plot was underwhelming and rushed. Some of the characters lacked development. I enjoyed the nods to the controversies of the atomic bomb but I felt that could have been developed further in the story. The author does have personal connections to the story with having parents that lived through this and so I acknowledge her understanding may be deeper than mine. I am grateful for her putting herself out there in her first novel.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Doris is challenged by missing home, breaking the ice with new people, and being a young mom with little help from her husband. Rob ultimately becomes absent to her and over whelmed by his duty to work and create the bomb before time runs out.
She ultimately finds a way to make a living and find a sense of a purpose in a place that feels desolate at times. Doris also finds herself in situations she never would have imagined.
Overall the book was entertaining and a quick read. It felt like a page turner but at times I wanted more depth to the plot. I felt like the biggest climax in the plot was underwhelming and rushed. Some of the characters lacked development. I enjoyed the nods to the controversies of the atomic bomb but I felt that could have been developed further in the story. The author does have personal connections to the story with having parents that lived through this and so I acknowledge her understanding may be deeper than mine. I am grateful for her putting herself out there in her first novel.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
November 26, 2025
This review is based upon a pre-publication copy of the novel
Fission is set in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, from 1942 until the end of WWII. Drawing upon her own family history, the author skilfully combines the story of Doris, a young, talented woman struggling to be recognised as more than a stereotypical 1940s housewife and mother, and the horrifying tale of the creation and eventual deployment of the atomic bomb. Feeling frustrated and neglected by her husband, who is working around the clock on the top-secret project, Doris falls for the seductive advances of a radiation safety officer. She later suspects that he is a Russian spy. But to disclose her suspicions would also necessitate disclosing her affair, which would quite possibly mean the end of her marriage. This weaving together of the political pressures to produce a means to end the war, and the impact upon the personal lives of those involved, makes for fascinating reading that holds the reader to the end.
Fission is set in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, from 1942 until the end of WWII. Drawing upon her own family history, the author skilfully combines the story of Doris, a young, talented woman struggling to be recognised as more than a stereotypical 1940s housewife and mother, and the horrifying tale of the creation and eventual deployment of the atomic bomb. Feeling frustrated and neglected by her husband, who is working around the clock on the top-secret project, Doris falls for the seductive advances of a radiation safety officer. She later suspects that he is a Russian spy. But to disclose her suspicions would also necessitate disclosing her affair, which would quite possibly mean the end of her marriage. This weaving together of the political pressures to produce a means to end the war, and the impact upon the personal lives of those involved, makes for fascinating reading that holds the reader to the end.
Review of advance copy
A novel set during WW2 during the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, TN. We follow Doris, a young Jewish mother whose husband is working on the project and is forced to give up her pursuit of education to keep her family together.
Doris makes a friend in Betty who they have to work out some differences but are there for each other in times of individual crisis. She also falls a bit for a man who she suspects might not be who he says he is and married a mistake that she corrects in a way to save her marriage and saves the risk that could have come if she has trusted him completely.
I love author's notes and the important info they have for the story.
Doris makes a friend in Betty who they have to work out some differences but are there for each other in times of individual crisis. She also falls a bit for a man who she suspects might not be who he says he is and married a mistake that she corrects in a way to save her marriage and saves the risk that could have come if she has trusted him completely.
I love author's notes and the important info they have for the story.
September 5, 2025
This review is based on a prepublication copy of the novel.
The legacy of parents working at Oak Ridge on the pressured research and production of atomic bombs is complicated for descendants. Perilous, principled, secret, what can we know today? The Cold War arms race magnified the terror and risk. Leslie Shover has absorbed the stories and emotions of her family, particularly her mother, and the findings in the last decade about spies into a sensitive recreation of their circumstances and marriage. She spins a tender believable tale while weaving truth and possibility.
The legacy of parents working at Oak Ridge on the pressured research and production of atomic bombs is complicated for descendants. Perilous, principled, secret, what can we know today? The Cold War arms race magnified the terror and risk. Leslie Shover has absorbed the stories and emotions of her family, particularly her mother, and the findings in the last decade about spies into a sensitive recreation of their circumstances and marriage. She spins a tender believable tale while weaving truth and possibility.
December 9, 2025
I received an advanced reader copy of Fission by Leslie R. Schover last month and read it from cover to cover with relish. What a page-turner!
I especially loved how Schover portrayed the trials of a young mother and wife within the backdrop of her husband's involvement in the advancement of the atom bomb, while also capturing the country's existential dread, which colored both her life choices and relationships.
A story that covers themes of women's liberation, complicated family dynamics, and the ultimate power of forgiveness, Fission is a powerful novel. I highly recommend it!
I especially loved how Schover portrayed the trials of a young mother and wife within the backdrop of her husband's involvement in the advancement of the atom bomb, while also capturing the country's existential dread, which colored both her life choices and relationships.
A story that covers themes of women's liberation, complicated family dynamics, and the ultimate power of forgiveness, Fission is a powerful novel. I highly recommend it!
Review of advance copy received from Author
This is a dual faceted book.
It’s set for the most part from in Oak Ridge, Tennessee from 1943-1945.
We get a look into the area and what’s happening with that part of the Manhattan Project which gives the book a real historical fiction feel.
The second facet is the main character, Doris Friedman. We see her aspirations, her disappointments, her struggle to be what’s the norm vs what she wants to accomplish. It’s a great character study into this time period for women.
It’s a fast moving book that has family significance to the author.
It’s set for the most part from in Oak Ridge, Tennessee from 1943-1945.
We get a look into the area and what’s happening with that part of the Manhattan Project which gives the book a real historical fiction feel.
The second facet is the main character, Doris Friedman. We see her aspirations, her disappointments, her struggle to be what’s the norm vs what she wants to accomplish. It’s a great character study into this time period for women.
It’s a fast moving book that has family significance to the author.
Review of advance copy received from Author
FISSION is a historical fiction story that takes place in WWII era Tennessee. I have read many WWII historical fiction books, but I cannot recall one that centered around the Manhattan project like this one did. This content made it unique for me and I really enjoyed it. The author did a great job with the characters and made them come to life for me!
Many thanks to Leslie R. Schover for my gifted copy.
This review will be shared to my Instagram account (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the future.
Many thanks to Leslie R. Schover for my gifted copy.
This review will be shared to my Instagram account (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the future.
Review of advance copy
This is a very interesting novel of a woman giving up her hopes and dreams to follow her husband as he begins work on the Manhattan Project to create the first atomic bomb. I found the differences between the goals of men and women at that time and the things each were willing to do for their family enlightening and also stifling. I loved the author's notes at the end and the familial connection she has with the topic. Intriguing and well-written this is a must read for historical fiction and WW2 fiction lovers.
I received a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review..
I received a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review..
December 20, 2025
This was such an interesting mix of historical fiction, emotional depth, and a touch of suspense.
Set in Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project, the story follows Doris, a young mother and one of the many women living behind the scenes of WWII.
This is a character-driven historical fiction with moral dilemmas, complicated relationships, and a strong sense of place, this one is worth picking up.
Set in Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project, the story follows Doris, a young mother and one of the many women living behind the scenes of WWII.
This is a character-driven historical fiction with moral dilemmas, complicated relationships, and a strong sense of place, this one is worth picking up.
Review of advance copy received from Author
This was fascinating historical fiction for me. I didn’t know much about the efforts in Oak Ridge in the 1940s, and I devoured the story. The writing was super descriptive, so I could clearly picture everything. Doris was such a great character. I loved her spirited personality and her determination. I really appreciated the author’s note, which explained her family’s connection to Oak Ridge.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews