The author of a new novel inspired by the experiences of the Americans who fueled the World War II-era Manhattan Project will visit the American Museum of Science and Energy on Thursday, February 15. The event will begin at 5:30 p.m.

Janet Beard, whose grandmother worked on the Manhattan Project, will give a presentation on her writing process for “The Atomic City Girls,” which was informed by many captivating oral and written histories, a press release said. Beard also will read excerpts and sign copies of her book. Copies will be on sale at the AMSE gift shop beginning February 6.

Through its fictionalized tale of 18-year-old June Walker, her romance with a young physicist, and her search for the truth about the goals of the Manhattan Project, “The Atomic City Girls” brings to life the previously untold story of thousands who moved to East Tennessee in the 1930s and 1940s to join the effort to win the war and highlights the role women played at a pivotal moment in the country’s history and Oak Ridge’s founding. [Read more…]