Atomic Love / Jennie Fields - 3.5***

[Book Concierge]

Atomic Love – Jennie Fields
3.5***

Rosalind Porter worked on the Manhattan Project as the only woman physicist. But now, in 1950, she’s selling antique jewelry at Marshall Fields. Her job at the lab had ended abruptly just after her love affair with colleague Thomas Weaver had also ended abruptly. Heartbroken and depressed she left science behind and moved on with her life. But now Weaver has contacted her again and wants to re-establish their relationship. FBI agent Charlie Szydlo also wants her to see Weaver again, because the FBI suspects Weaver has been passing secrets on to the Russians and they want Rosalind to spy on him.

This work of historical fiction captured my attention from the beginning, and the twists and turns in the plot kept me turning pages. I wasn’t always in Rosalind’s camp. She seemed very vulnerable and far too easily swayed. There were times when she showed her intelligence and courage, but other times when I wanted to just shake her. I loved Charlie, though I found it hard to believe he’d be accepted into the FBI given his obvious PTSD and disability resulting from his time spent as a POW in a Japanese camp during WW2.

I’m not sure how this book came to my attention, but I noticed that both Ann Patchett and Elinor Lipman (authors whose works I’ve enjoyed) praised it.