The Wives of Los Alamos

In this historical novel, the wives who accompany their husbands to Los Alamos, NM, in 1943 know only that the scientists are working on a very important war project. Nesbit uses a collective "we" to narrate her story, allowing her to explore contradictory points of view among the women. Novelist Julie Otsuka used this literary device with dramatic effect in The Buddha in the Attic, and readers may find echoes of her distinctive style here. The Los Alamos wives are at first mainly concerned with adapting to this strange and claustrophobic little community in the high desert while they long for their old lives. In August 1945, when the women finally find out what the new weapon is and what it has done, they cheer or they shudder. They feel proud, ashamed, confused, or just relieved that the war is finally over and they can go home.