The Wives of Los Alamos

Starred review from October 14, 2013
First-time novelist Nesbit chronicles the lives of a disparate group of women who forge a new community together after relocating to the desert of New Mexico during World War II. The collective “we” that serves as the book’s protagonist only knows that the women’s physicist husbands are working day and night on a secret government project. This clandestineness permeates their world as their letters are censored, visits home are limited, and close family and friends are forbidden to know their exact whereabouts. In the meantime, the wives carry on (or attempt to carry on) with their normal everyday lives—gossiping about one another, setting standards for practical fashion among the group, and trying to get around the bureaucracy that has them feeding their families with spoiled provisions. On occasion, the mundane turns ominous, as explosions are heard in the distance. Nesbit’s novel is divided into concise sections that report on different aspects of life in Los Alamos. The author’s writing—by turns touching, confiding, and matter-of-fact—perfectly captures the commonalities of the hive mind while also emphasizing the little things that make each wife dissimilar from the pack. This effect intensifies once the nature of the Los Alamos project is revealed and the men and their families grapple with the burden of their new creation. Engrossing, dense, and believable.