Elizabeth J. Church

A book that explains my own life events like no other

This story, beautifully told, is the story of so many women brought up in the patriarchal social order that was taken for granted at one time, and is threatening to be imposed again in 2017 America. I want to sit quietly now with what I read, examine the ways in which I was culpable in the stifling of my intellect for so many years, my acquiescence because that was easier. A novel that makes me examine myself does not come along that often, so I say, brava!… (mais)

Meridian, a bright student, sets aside her ambition to become a scientist and follows her husband to Los Alamos where he will work on the Manhattan Project. There she meets similarly bright but sidetracked women who are resigned to live in the shadows of their spouses. To fill her days, she goes to ladies' coffees and, on the side, studies a flock of crows in a nearby canyon, learning much about human behavior through their actions. A chance encounter with a returned Vietnam war veteran/graduate student introduces her to free love, the Women's Movement, her awakening sexuality, and her right to pursue her early dreams. Readers who have become adults through the '60's and '70's will identify with Meridian's journey to a very satisfying ending.… (mais)

This book seemed like it should have been a perfect fit for me - it features New Mexico, history, science, birds, m and written by a New Mexican author - how could it go wrong. But it went so gloriously wrong; so very, very, very, very wrong. I'm honestly stunned by the favorable reviews of this book, especially from the women of LT.

Titularly about the people and events of the Manhattan Project, particularly the women there, it boils down to a badly composed bodice ripper. One of the difficulties is that it appeared the author wanted the book to fit into several different marketing boxes, so that it's just a mess of everything, not sure of itself in any one place. Things looked bleak for the story when the main character starts up an affair - and I don't really care one way or another whether a character engages in extramarital affairs - in an effort to break free from the quotidian and life-sucking nature of her life. Good for her, I say. But then descriptions followed that are better placed in Penthouse Forum, and probably better written there, as well. Honestly, do we really need to know what male body crack a female puts her tongue? Or how it tasted? This is one I'd like to have pitched directly out the window while uttering several of the curse words I'd been reading in the pages.

Not Recommended!
1 bone, simply for having thought of Los Alamos and the Manhattan Project, if only in passing.… (mais)