Interesting story, but narrator makes it great

Denise Kiernan brings a really interesting story to print, but Cassandra Campbell brings the story to life. This is the story of the women of Oakridge, Tennessee: America's atomic city in the Second World War.

Part military history, part social history, this book follows numerous young women who leave (mostly southern) towns to take up jobs in a top-secret new government facility producing...who knows what. The women are recruited in secrecy, moved in secrecy, and working in secrecy, not able to tell their families or loved ones what it is they're doing. Mail is censored as if they were soldiers, and some doesn't even get through as Oakridge isn't on the map, literally.

But those aren't the only struggles these women face. Their town is brand new, created out of a river valley just recently emptied of its Tennessee residents. No proper houses exist to live in, and there are no sidewalks to walk on - just knee deep mud. The women, who often arrive with their best shoes and dresses, quickly adapt to walking bare feet and using foot showers in their building entrances. There are also issues with living arrangements for the segregated coloured workers, harassing security guards, lack of household supplies (like baking sheets, as one story tells us), and recreational activities.

This is the story of the women who live through all that while working the machines that purify the "tube alloy" (codename for uranium-235) that would eventually be used in the first atomic bomb.

The book is well researched and well put together, but the different characters and narratives make the audio version seem like it is jumping around. There are what I assume to be highlight quotes used to break up sections, usually quotes from the Oakridge Times newspaper, but there isn't always enough pause between sections to make that apparent. As is often the case with large cast histories, it is also difficult to keep the characters separate in your mind while you listen. However, Cassandra Campbell does an amazing job with all the different accents and somehow makes the story sound rooted in Tennessee. She makes it a four star book, especially since the at-times confusing audio book version would probably only get a three.

All in all a very interesting history, an even better narrator.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!