Michelle Shocklee sets her historical novels in Tennessee, connecting her stories to the rich history of the state. In The Women of Oak Ridge, Michelle sets her WWII novel in the Secret City of Oak Ridge, TN, where people lived and worked while unknowingly contributing to the building of the most dangerous weapon the world had even seen.
In this guest post, Michelle shares her personal connections to World War II and how she thought her education about that time was complete. Until one crucial comment from a reader suggested there was more to discover, which set Michelle’s research in a different direction and set her in motion to write The Women of Oak Ridge.
If you want to learn more about Michelle’s novel, start reading the first chapter of The Women of Oak Ridge, or find your own copy in softcover, e-book, or audiobook at a retailer near you.
Growing up in Santa Fe, New Mexico, I couldn’t help but receive an education on the atomic bomb. My dad, a WWII veteran and a voracious reader, had dozens of books about the war, including several about the bomb. In school, I heard captivating stories about the classified government work that took place at Los Alamos in the 1940s, a “secret city” just up the mountain from my childhood home. I learned about the brilliant scientists, physicists, and military men who flocked to Los Alamos with one goal in mind: to produce a weapon the likes of which the world had never seen. I even had a relative who worked at the Los Alamos Laboratory after the war, and our family enjoyed many behind-the-scenes tours that included areas the average tourist isn’t allowed to visit.
However, I deemed my education regarding the atomic bomb complete when I learned that my own grandmother witnessed the flash from the explosion of the first ever nuclear bomb. On July 16, 1945, at 5:30 AM in the desert near Alamogordo, New Mexico, a test code-named Trinity took place. My grandmother, who lived approximately fifty miles from the test site, witnessed the flash. She described it as the whitest, brightest light she had ever seen. Because the test was top secret, the public was told ammunitions had exploded at a nearby military base. It wasn’t until after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan that my grandparents learned the truth about the Trinity test.
A few years ago, I was invited to speak at a church in East Tennessee. After my talk, an older woman approached. “If you’re looking for a new topic to write about,” she said with a knowing smile, “my mother worked at Oak Ridge.” I thanked her for the suggestion, although I didn’t know anything about the small town or why it would make a good setting for a novel. As my husband and I headed back to Nashville, we passed the exit to Oak Ridge. My curiosity piqued, I grabbed my phone and searched for information. I was completely surprised by what I read. I’d always assumed I knew the key facts about the history of the atomic bomb and the Manhattan Project, but I was wrong.
In 1942, General Leslie Groves, head of the Manhattan Project, and physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the lead scientist, chose a remote area in East Tennessee as the location where all the uranium necessary for an atomic bomb would be enriched. Thousands of acres of farmland and small communities were purchased by the government, and soon, enormous plants and a town sprang up from the rich Tennessee soil. By the end of the war, over 75,000 people lived and worked in Oak Ridge, a secret city just like Los Alamos.
In my novel The Women of Oak Ridge, Mae Willett wants to do her part to help bring an end to the war. She travels to Tennessee where she’s accepted a job working for Clinton Engineer Works, but she neither understands what she’s doing nor is she allowed to talk about it to anyone. Like the real people who worked in Oak Ridge in the 1940s, Mae and her coworkers are unaware the work taking place in their small town will result in an atomic weapon. They’re simply told it will help bring America’s boys home. But all is not as it seems. Secrets abound. When Mae finds herself caught up in a dangerous situation, she comes face-to-face with a life-altering revelation—one that comes at significant cost. Years later Mae’s niece Laurel is researching Oak Ridge for her dissertation, but Aunt Mae refuses to share about her time in the Secret City. As Laurel works to put the pieces together, the hidden pain and guilt Mae has tried so hard to bury comes to light . . . with potentially disastrous consequences.
I’m excited to share The Women of Oak Ridge with readers. The history involved in the story is beyond fascinating, and the secrets that unfold just might surprise you.
The Women of Oak Ridge by Michelle Shocklee
1944. Maebelle Willett arrives in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, eager to begin her new government job and send money home to her impoverished family. She knows little about the work she will be doing, but she’s told it will help America win the war. Not all is what it seems, however. Though Oak Ridge employees are forbidden from discussing their jobs, Mae’s roommate begins sharing disturbing information, then disappears without a trace. Mae desperately attempts to find her but instead comes face-to-face with a life-altering revelation—one that comes at significant cost.
1979. Laurel Willett is a graduate student in Boston when she learns about the history of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where thousands unknowingly worked on the atomic bomb. Intrigued because she knows her Aunt Mae was employed there, Laurel decides to spend the summer with her aunt, hoping to add a family connection to her thesis research. But Mae adamantly refuses to talk about her time in the Secret City. Mae’s friends, however, offer to share their experiences, propelling Laurel on her path to uncovering the truth about a missing woman. As Laurel works to put the pieces together, the hidden pain and guilt Mae has tried so hard to bury comes to light . . . with potentially disastrous consequences.
Michelle Shocklee is the author of several historical novels, including All We Thought We Knew; Count the Nights by Stars, a Christianity Today fiction book award winner; and Under the Tulip Tree, a Christy and Selah Awards finalist. Her work has been featured in numerous Chicken Soup for the Soul books, magazines, and blogs. Married to her college sweetheart and the mother of two grown sons, she makes her home in Tennessee, not far from the historical sites she writes about.
