Janet Beard

Janet Beard's new novel is The Atomic City Girls.

From her Q&A with Deborah Kalb:

Q: You grew up near Oak Ridge. How did your longtime interest in the area's history lead to your writing this novel?

A: I first learned about Oak Ridge’s history on a field trip to the science museum there when I was around 8 years old and found it both intriguing and frightening. About 10 years ago, I saw a short television documentary that reignited my interest.

As a child, I was mostly disturbed by the idea of atomic weapons, but as an adult, I became more interested in the human stories of the thousands of people who came to work in Oak Ridge during the war, particularly the young women. Those stories became the basis for the novel.

Q: You tell the story from several characters' perspectives. How did you come up with the idea for these characters, and did you write the novel in the order in which it appears, or focus on one character at a time?

A: I always wanted to use an array of characters to capture the different aspects of life and work in Oak Ridge but knew I would focus on a young woman working in one of the plants where uranium was being enriched. So I started with the character of June and worked out from there.

I wanted her to find out what was going on at Oak Ridge and thought she could have a relationship with someone who...[read on]

Visit Janet Beard's website.

--Marshal Zeringue