Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML:

In the spirit of The Aviator's Wife and Loving Frank, this resonant debut spans the years from World War II through the Vietnam War to tell the story of a woman whose scientific ambition is caught up in her relationships with two very different men.

For Meridian Wallace—and many other smart, driven women of the 1940s—being ambitious meant being an outlier. Ever since she was a young girl, Meridian had been obsessed with birds, and she was determined to get her PhD, become an ornithologist, and make her mother's sacrifices to send her to college pay off. But she didn't expect to fall in love with her brilliant physics professor, Alden Whetstone. When he's recruited to Los Alamos, New Mexico, to take part in a mysterious wartime project, she reluctantly defers her own plans and joins him.
What began as an exciting intellectual partnership devolves into a "traditional" marriage. And while the life of a housewife quickly proves stifling, it's not until years later, when Meridian meets a Vietnam veteran who opens her eyes to how the world is changing, that she realizes just how much she has given up. The repercussions of choosing a different path, though, may be too heavy a burden to bear.
Elizabeth Church's stirring debut novel about ambition, identity, and sacrifice will ring true to every woman who has had to make the impossible choice between who she is and who circumstances demand her to be.

"Oh, what an incandescent debut! . . . Church follows one extraordinary woman who is brave enough to challenge the times, take defiant wing, and chart her own extraordinary flight path . . . I never wanted the story to end." —Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Is This Tomorrow and Pictures of You

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Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML:In her sweeping debut novel, Elizabeth J. Church takes us from the World War II years in Chicago to the vast sun-parched canyons of New Mexico in the 1970s as we follow the journey of a driven, spirited young woman, Meridian Wallace, whose scientific ambitions are subverted by the expectations of her era.
In 1941, at seventeen years old, Meridian begins her ornithology studies at the University of Chicago. She is soon drawn to Alden Whetstone, a brilliant, complicated physics professor who opens her eyes to the fundamentals and poetry of his field, the beauty of motion, space and time, the delicate balance of force and energy that allows a bird to fly.
Entranced and in love, Meridian defers her own career path and follows Alden west to Los Alamos, where he is engaged in a secret government project (later known to be the atomic bomb). In married life, though, she feels lost and left behind. She channels her academic ambitions into studying a particular family of crows, whose free life and companionship are the very things that seem beyond her reach. There in her canyons, years later at the dawn of the 1970s, with counterculture youth filling the streets and protests against the war rupturing college campuses across the country, Meridian meets Clay, a young geologist and veteran of the Vietnam War, and together they seek ways to mend what the world has broken.
Exquisitely capturing the claustrophobic eras of 1940s and 1950s America, The Atomic Weight of Love also examines the changing roles of women during the decades that followed. And in Meridian Wallace we find an unforgettable heroine whose metamorphosis shows how the women’s movement opened up the world for a whole generation.

Capturing "the claustrophobic eras of 1940s and 1950s America, The Atomic Weight of Love also examines the changing roles of women during the decades that followed. And in Meridian Wallace we find an unforgettable heroine whose metamorphosis shows how the women's movement opened up the world for a whole generation."--Book jacket.

"The story of a woman whose scientific ambition is caught up in her relationships with two very different men spanning the years from World War II through the Vietnam War"--

In 1941, at seventeen years old, Meridian begins her ornithology studies at the University of Chicago. She is soon drawn to Alden Whetstone, a brilliant, complicated physics professor who opens her eyes to the fundamentals and poetry of his field, the beauty of motion, space and time, the delicate balance of force and energy that allows a bird to fly. Entranced and in love, Meridian defers her own career path and follows Alden west to Los Alamos, where he is engaged in a secret government project (later known to be the atomic bomb). In married life, though, she feels lost and left behind. She channels her academic ambitions into studying a particular family of crows, whose free life and companionship are the very things that seem beyond her reach. There in her canyons, years later at the dawn of the 1970s, with counterculture youth filling the streets and protests against the war rupturing college campuses across the country, Meridian meets Clay, a young geologist and veteran of the Vietnam War, and together they seek ways to mend what the world has broken.

"The story of a woman whose scientific ambition is caught up in her relationships with two very different men spanning the years from World War II through the Vietnam War"-- Meridian Wallace, is obsessed with birds, determined to get a PhD and become an ornithologist. But she didn't expect to fall in love with her physics professor, Alden Whetstone. When he's recruited to Los Alamos, New Mexico in the 1940s, to take part in a mysterious wartime project, she reluctantly defers her own plans and joins him, but begins to fade into the background. Years later, when a Vietnam veteran introduces her to freedoms born of the era, Meridian begins to reclaim her identity and patch together a new and meaningful life.

Capturing "the claustrophobic eras of 1940s and 1950s America, The Atomic Weight of Love also examines the changing roles of women during the decades that followed. And in Meridian Wallace we find an unforgettable heroine whose metamorphosis shows how the women's movement opened up the world for a whole generation."--Jacket. 1941. As Meridian begins her ornithology studies at the University of Chicago she is drawn to Alden Whetstone, a physics professor who opens her eyes to the fundamentals and poetry of his field, the beauty of motion, space and time, the delicate balance of force and energy that allows a bird to fly. Following Alden to Los Alamos, they marry and she channels her academic ambitions into studying a particular family of crows, whose free life seems beyond her reach. In the 1970s, with protests rupturing college campuses across the country, Meridian meets Clay, a young geologist and veteran of the Vietnam War, and together they seek ways to mend what the world has broken.

Meridian, an aspiring ornithologist, reluctantly shares an unfulfilling marriage with a professor before bonding with a Vietnam veteran who helps her recognize the changes happening throughout the world at the dawn of the 1970s.

A luminous and enthralling story of birds and science, ambition and sacrifice, revolutions âe" both big and small âe" and the late blooming of an unforgettable woman. I first loved him because he taught me the flight of a bird. I was too young to realise that what I really yearned to know was why birds take flight âe" and why, sometimes, they refuse. Meridian Wallace has lived through the Second World War, the atomic age, the Vietnam War and the dawn of the new millennium âe" yet she has always been torn between who she is and who circumstances demand her to be. In 1941, spirited, ambitious and determined to prove worthy of the sacrifices her mother made for her, Meridian won a place at the University of Chicago to study ornithology. The last thing she expected was to fall in love with a man two decades older: her brilliant physics professor, Alden Whetstone âe" or for him to be recruited to Los Alamos, New Mexico, to take part in a mysterious wartime project. When Meridian defers her plans to join him, she agrees to give Alden a year of her life. But this is a world, and a time, in which a wife cannot be a scientist and a woman cannot choose her own destiny. What begins as an electrifying intellectual partnership soon evolves into something quite different. As the decades pass, Meridian strives to resist the clipping of her wings. It is a choice that will make her enemies and bring her heartache, but it also opens up unexpected possibilities: of freedom, and friendship and transformationâe¦

A luminous and enthralling story of birds and science, ambition and sacrifice, revolutions - both big and small - and the late blooming of an unforgettable woman. In 1941, spirited and adventurous Meridian Wallace begins her ornithology studies at the University of Chicago. The last thing she expects is to fall in love with a man two decades older: her brilliant physics professor, Alden Whetstone - or for him to be recruited to Los Alamos, New Mexico, to take part in a mysterious wartime project. Meridian agrees to give Alden a year of her life, deferring her own ambitions for the sake of her husband's. But hers is a world, and a time, in which a wife cannot be a scientist and a woman cannot choose her own destiny. As the decades pass, Meridian strives to resist the clipping of her wings, torn between who she is and who circumstances demand her to be. It is a struggle that will make her enemies and lead to heartache, but which also offers the possibility of freedom, friendship and transformation...

In her sweeping debut novel, Elizabeth J. Church takes us from the World War II years in Chicago to the vast sun-parched canyons of Los Alamos, New Mexico, in the 1970s as we follow the journey of a driven, spirited young woman whose scientific ambitions are subverted by the expectations of her era.

In the spirit of The Aviator's Wife and Loving Frank, this resonant debut spans the years from World War II through the Vietnam War to tell the story of a woman whose scientific ambition is caught up in her relationships with two very different men. For Meridian Wallace—and many other smart, driven women of the 1940s—being ambitious meant being an outlier. Ever since she was a young girl, Meridian had been obsessed with birds, and she was determined to get her PhD, become an ornithologist, and make her mother's sacrifices to send her to college pay off. But she didn't expect to fall in love with her brilliant physics professor, Alden Whetstone. When he's recruited to Los Alamos, New Mexico, to take part in a mysterious wartime project, she reluctantly defers her own plans and joins him. What began as an exciting intellectual partnership devolves into a "traditional" marriage. And while the life of a housewife quickly proves...

Spanning the years from WWII through the Vietnam era and set in the breathtaking landscape of the American Southwest, this triumphant debut tells the story of the indomitable, gifted Meridian Wallace - a late-blooming heroine awakened by the women's movement who discovers what she has to offer amid a world lain to waste by the ravages of men.

For Meridian Wallace - and many other smart, driven women of the 1940s - being ambitious meant being an outlier. Ever since she was a young girl, Meridian has been obsessed with birds, and she's determined to get her PhD, become an ornithologist, and make her mother's sacrifices to send her to college pay off. But she didn't expect to fall in love with her brilliant physics professor, Alden Whetstone. When he's recruited to Los Alamos, New Mexico, to take part in a mysterious wartime project, she reluctantly defers her own plans and joins him. What began as an exciting intellectual partnership devolves into a 'traditional' marriage. And while the life of a housewife quickly proves stifling, it's not until years later, when Meridian meets a Vietnam veteran who opens her eyes to how the world is changing, that she realizes just how much she has given up. The repercussions of choosing a different path, though, may be too heavy a burden.

Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML:

March 14, 2016
Meridian Wallace grew up wanting to study birds. As a student at the University of Chicago in the 1940s, she falls in love with and marries an older physics professor, Alden Whetstone, who leaves her side temporarily to work on the Manhattan Project. At the end of the war, he stays on at Los Alamos, but Meri joins him, putting her graduate work in ornithology on hold. On her own, she begins to study and sketch the local crow population. As the decades pass, Meri resigns herself to a marriage devoid of passion. Then, in 1970, she meets Clay Griffin, a geology student and Vietnam veteran who, at 26, is young enough to be her son. Meri resolves to keep her distance from the disarmingly straightforward young man, but is drawn back to him time and again. As Meri considers leaving her husband for him, a sudden illness forces her to re-evaluate her plans for the future. As characters go, Meri is a little too passive, Alden too one-dimensional a domestic tyrant, and Clay too good to be true. Nonetheless, readers will enjoy following Meri’s long, vivid journey, which concludes in her 80s. Agent: Michelle Brower, Folio Literary Management.

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In the spirit of The Aviator's Wife and Loving Frank, this resonant debut spans the years from World War II through the Vietnam War to tell the story of a woman whose scientific ambition is caught up in her relationships with two very different men.

For Meridian Wallace—and many other smart, driven women of the 1940s—being ambitious meant being an outlier. Ever since she was a young girl, Meridian had been obsessed with birds, and she was determined to get her PhD, become an ornithologist, and make her mother's sacrifices to send her to college pay off. But she didn't expect to fall in love with her brilliant physics professor, Alden Whetstone. When he's recruited to Los Alamos, New Mexico, to take part in a mysterious wartime project, she reluctantly defers her own plans and joins him.
What began as an exciting intellectual partnership devolves into a "traditional" marriage. And while the life of a housewife quickly proves stifling, it's not until years later, when Meridian meets a Vietnam veteran who opens her eyes to how the world is changing, that she realizes just how much she has given up. The repercussions of choosing a different path, though, may be too heavy a burden to bear.
Elizabeth Church's stirring debut novel about ambition, identity, and sacrifice will ring true to every woman who has had to make the impossible choice between who she is and who circumstances demand her to be.

"Oh, what an incandescent debut! . . . Church follows one extraordinary woman who is brave enough to challenge the times, take defiant wing, and chart her own extraordinary flight path . . . I never wanted the story to end." —Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Is This Tomorrow and Pictures of You

.

In 1941,spirited, ambitious and determined to prove worthy of the sacrifices her mother made for her, Meridian won a place at the University of Chicago to study ornithology. The last thing she expected was to fall in love with a man two decades older: her brilliant physics professor, Alden Whetsone - or for him to be recruited to Los Alamos, New Mexico, to take part in a mysterious wartime project. When Meridian defers her plans to join him, she agrees to give Alden a year of her life. But this is a world, and a time, in which a wife cannot be a scientist and a woman cannot choose her own destiny. What begins as an electrifying intellectual partnership soon evolves into something quite different. As the decades pass, Meridian strives to resist the clipping of her wings. It is a choice that will make her enemies and bring her heartache, but it also opens up unexpected possibilities of freedom, friendship and transformation...

Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML:

March 14, 2016
Meridian Wallace grew up wanting to study birds. As a student at the University of Chicago in the 1940s, she falls in love with and marries an older physics professor, Alden Whetstone, who leaves her side temporarily to work on the Manhattan Project. At the end of the war, he stays on at Los Alamos, but Meri joins him, putting her graduate work in ornithology on hold. On her own, she begins to study and sketch the local crow population. As the decades pass, Meri resigns herself to a marriage devoid of passion. Then, in 1970, she meets Clay Griffin, a geology student and Vietnam veteran who, at 26, is young enough to be her son. Meri resolves to keep her distance from the disarmingly straightforward young man, but is drawn back to him time and again. As Meri considers leaving her husband for him, a sudden illness forces her to re-evaluate her plans for the future. As characters go, Meri is a little too passive, Alden too one-dimensional a domestic tyrant, and Clay too good to be true. Nonetheless, readers will enjoy following Meriâ??s long, vivid journey, which concludes in her 80s. Agent: Michelle Brower, Folio Literary Management.

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For Meridian Wallace — and many other smart, driven women of the 1940s — being ambitious meant being an outlier. Ever since she was a young girl, Meridian has been obsessed with birds, and she’s determined to get her PhD, become an ornithologist, and make her mother’s sacrifices to send her to college pay off. But she didn’t expect to fall in love with her brilliant physics professor, Alden Whetstone. When he’s recruited to Los Alamos, New Mexico, to take part in a mysterious wartime project, she reluctantly defers her own plans and joins him.

Fiction. Science Fiction.