In November 1944, eighteen-year-old June Walker boards an unmarked bus, destined for a city that doesnt officially exist. Oak Ridge, Tennessee has sprung up in a matter of monthsa 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 …
In November 1944, eighteen-year-old June Walker boards an unmarked bus, destined for a city that doesnt officially exist. Oak Ridge, Tennessee has sprung up in a matter of monthsa 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 governments 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 Junes 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.
I loved the characters. You don't get more real than these people. And I pretty much love any historical fiction. When the plot seems to be dull at least the history part keeps me going. I just felt this book could have had a bit more ... I don't know. Something just a "bit more". I felt like I was waiting for some big reveal or twist that never happened. This is basically just a story (but a good one) that puts into place another piece of the puzzle for me about the Second World War.
