The Atomic Weight of Love
by Elizabeth J. Church
The Atomic Weight of Love is an outstanding debut novel. Meridian
Wallace puts her dreams of a Masters and PhD. on hold and follows her husband,
Alden Whetstone, to Los Alamos, New Mexico where he helps with the atomic bomb.
Meridian’s unfinished scholarly work in ornithology leads her to question her
life with Alden, who becomes more interested in his work and must lead a rather
secretive life. Clay Griffin, a Vietnam veteran, changes the course of Meridian’s
life when he teaches her the value of an equal relationship and following your
own path. Meridian’s growing interest in women’s liberation and her affair with
Clay show how discontent simmers below the surface when potential cannot be
fulfilled.
Our members love this story because
Meridian is so real. Meridian has dreams, setbacks, hardships. Meridian wants
to learn new things and have a partner who loves her for her mind. Her
foundation, Wingspan, helped Meridian fulfill her life’s passion for education
and helps young girls find their potential.
We are all surprised Alden is so
secretive, even when he did not need to be when talking about mundane things or
what Meridian is thinking. Alden is also too controlling with money. He gives
Meridian a small allowance to run the household each month. She scrimps and saves
to make ends meet; little does she know Alden is a millionaire. When he dies
and leaves Meridian an even smaller monthly allowance we were all shocked and
happy Meridian fought the trust and won. Alden’s actions towards Meridian did not
justify the affair with Clay; but they show us how Meridian is thrilled by Clay’s
attention.
The history of this novel shows
how far women have come in the past few decades. The best moments of our
meeting came from other members discussing how they were treated in the 1960s
and 1970s. On a job interview one woman was asked if she was on birth control because
the boss was not going to invest time and money in her if she was going to
leave in a few months. Another member was asked about having more children
because it might interfere with her job. None of the women could open a credit
card in their own name; they had to be an authorized user on their husband’s
account. Another member was questioned by a bank teller if she was planning on
divorcing her husband and would not cash a check he had written for her savings
account. These stories demonstrate what it was like to be an American woman not
that long ago.
