Universe of Two by Stephen P. Kiernan – 448 pages
ARC from William Morrow and Netgalley for an honest review.
Book Blurb:
Graduating from Harvard at the height of World War II, brilliant mathematician Charlie Fish is assigned to the Manhattan Project. Working with some of the age’s greatest scientific minds, including J. Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi, and Leo Szilard, Charlie is assigned the task of designing and building the detonator of the atomic bomb. As he performs that work Charlie suffers a crisis of conscience, which his wife, Brenda—unaware of the true nature of Charlie’s top-secret task—mistakes as self-doubt. She urges him to set aside his qualms and continue. Once the bombs strike Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the feelings of culpability devastate him and Brenda. At the war’s end, Charlie receives a scholarship to pursue a PhD in physics at Stanford—an opportunity he and Brenda hope will allow them a fresh start. But the past proves inescapable. All any of his new colleagues can talk about is the bomb, and what greater atomic weapons might be on the horizon. Haunted by guilt, Charlie and Brenda leave Stanford and decide to dedicate the rest of their lives to making amends for the evil he helped to birth into the world.
My Review: 4 stars
Universe of Two was a compelling and thought-provoking book with a love story at its heart. I knew very little about the making and planning for the atomic bomb and this story enlightened me in many ways.
I suppose when I learned about this in history class as a high school student, it never occurred to me to think of the men and women who created both the splitting of the atom and its big brother the atomic bomb. I never realized that math students were most wanted in helping to create the bomb without realizing what they were working on. This book puts you “in the room where it happened” (shout out to Hamilton) where engineers, physicists and mathematicians were working on something that they called the “gadget” and The Manhattan Project.
Charlie Fish, whose soldering abilities and study of arcs landed him in Santa Fe, was a real person who had a great responsibility during the war. Once he realized what he working on, he was riddled with guilt at the devastation he would be helping to create. Was it possible he’d be able to stop the war? Yes. Was it okay to bomb innocents that would lead to 120,000 deaths? No. This double edged dilemna affected him on many levels and the nickname “trigger” didn’t help much.
The romance Charlie had with Brenda was both believable and relatable. The two of them showed immense growth both individually and singularly. The organ also played a huge role is their lives, which intrigued me as I don’t think I’ve ever heard a live organist. Who knew the complexity of it? Not me!
I highly recommend this for book clubs and all readers. There’s a lot to learn and a lot to ponder on as you read.
Quotes I liked:
Some deeds are like tattoos, and the ink of regret is permanent.”
“I have paid attention, and learned one thing in this life: Whatever you love, no matter how fiercely, you will lose it one day. That is the only certainty. Therefore be as kind as you can. Don’t fear your mistakes, as long as you learn humility from them. There is no such thing as perfect pitch.”
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