Women inform the following debuts, which are as various in genre and subject as the main characters they feature. From fiercely determined to quietly striving, the ladies filling these pages reward readers' attention as they forge and define their lives. In the wistful THE ATOMIC WEIGHT OF LOVE (Algonquin. May 2016. ISBN 9781616204846. $25.95; ebk. ISBN 9781616206116), Elizabeth J. Church traces the life of Meridian Wallace from young girl and star student to wife and, finally, to her true self. The story spans pre-World War II to the 1980s as Meridian makes the hard bargain so many of her cohorts made: to deny her own desires and goals for the career and wishes of her husband. Through smooth prose and a dimensional main character, Church measures what her heroine loses when she turns down a Cornell graduate program and what she finds in an affair with a questing Vietnam vet. Meridian's self-realization soon inspires her to contribute greatly to the girls of her community, launching them on their own chosen paths.
展开▼
