Skip to footer

'The Girls of Atomic City': a bestselling WWII tale

'Girls,' by Denise Kiernan, continues to hold steady on bestseller lists more than a year after its initial publication.

'The Girls of Atomic City' is by Denise Kiernan.
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

The book “The Girls of Atomic City” by Denise Kiernan has become the little bestseller that could, with its paperback version experiencing strong sales more than a year after “Girls” was published.

“Girls,” which was first released in March 2013, follows several women who lived and worked in the city of Oak Ridge, Tenn. during World War II. Residents of the government town worked at various tasks to create the atomic bomb, including enriching uranium, but almost no one knew what it was they were working on and those who talked too much about their job or speculated about the town’s mission were quickly removed, 

The paperback version of “Girls” was published this past March and has held steady on the IndieBound bestseller list almost every week since. On the most current list, the book came in at number nine in the Trade Paperback Nonfiction category.

Amazon put the book on its list of the 100 best titles of 2013 and Library Journal called the book “compelling,” writing that the author “capably captures the spirit of women's wartime opportunities and their sacrifices in what is ultimately a captivating narrative.” 

Meanwhile, Kirkus Reviews called “Girls” “a fresh take on the secret city built in the mountains of Tennessee… an inspiring account of how people can respond with their best when called upon.”

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to 'The Girls of Atomic City': a bestselling WWII tale
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2014/0529/The-Girls-of-Atomic-City-a-bestselling-WWII-tale
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe