I told you I haven’t had the best times picking books as of late. I’m not giving up yet. I ended up having this one on my hold list and about 16 weeks later, it was finally my turn. I don’t wait impatiently. I typically just put the book on the list and forget about it. I don’t even remember which books are on the list. It’s easier to not be frustrated with the long waits that way.
The book I waited for this time around was Atomic Love by Jennie Fields.
The book takes place shortly after the US dropped the bombs in Japan. The story is all rapped up in the communism scare. There are secrets and spies…but it’s fairly predictable. I don’t mind some books that I can guess the ending and want to read to the to make sure I am right. This book was predictable in that I was positive on how it would end. I did read to the end but I wouldn’t have needed to.
The author was promising though. I only see a total of three books listed on Amazon. I have hope she will continue to write because I could see her knocking a book out of the park in the future.
Here is what Amazon had to say:
“Chicago, 1950. Rosalind Porter has always defied expectations – in her work as a physicist on the Manhattan Project and in her passionate love affair with colleague Thomas Weaver. Five years after the end of both, her guilt over the bomb and her heartbreak over Weaver are intertwined. She desperately misses her work in the lab, yet has almost resigned herself to a more conventional life.
Then Weaver gets back in touch – and so does the FBI. Special Agent Charlie Szydlo wants Roz to spy on Weaver, whom the FBI suspects of passing nuclear secrets to the enemy. Roz helped to develop these secrets and knows better than anyone the devastating power such knowledge holds. But can she spy on a man she still loves, despite her better instincts? At the same time, something about Charlie draws her in. He’s a former prisoner of war haunted by his past, just as her past haunts her.Â
As Rosalind’s feelings for each man deepen, so too does the danger she finds herself in. She will have to choose: the man who taught her how to love . . . or the man her love might save?“
Amazon readers gave the book 4.2 stars. I’m going to agree. I didn’t not like it but the book was entirely predictable. Some things happened in the book that didn’t follow the time period….not bad but I’m kind of a picky reader/listener.
You can find the book HERE on Amazon if you are interested.
Hello Jo, thank you for your review of “The Life She Was Given” by Ellen Marie Wiseman.
This has been the first time I’ve found one of your reviews at my local library and yes, I did find it a very interesting read even though disturbing in places. Circus people were not renowned for kindness to their animals, let alone what people did to their own family. I did correctly guess some parts, but the surprises caught me out. But just had to keep turning pages!
I hope to read her other books now, they all sound worthy of a try.
Happy reading, dogging, quilting, treasure hunting, and looking forward to visits with those adorable grandies.
Cheers, Dot, NZ.
Ellen Marie Wiseman is a wonderful writer. I’ve read so many of her books. There hasn’t been a dud yet.
Here’s a couple I enjoyed, and perhaps you would: Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
The Storyteller by Jodie Picoult
I bought this book last year because I’m always interest in WWII stories, fact or fiction. I just couldn’t get into this one, though. I don’t even remember why. It’s been on my book shelf all this time but I doubt I’ll give it another try. I’m de-cluttering several areas of our house and books are a part of that so I think I’ll be donating it to Goodwill. I’m always disappointed when a book doesn’t “grab” me from the beginning because I’m not patient enough to muddle through, hoping it will get better. That’s just me.