Fission: A Novel of Atomic Heartbreak

by Leslie R. Schover

Overview

For fans of Ariel Lawhon and Rhys Bowen, an Oppenheimer–meets–The Rose Code World War II novel of a young mother’s self-discovery as she is drawn into a love triangle with an atomic spy in Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project.

When nineteen-year-old Doris Friedman marries Rob in 1941 and has a sickly, premature baby, she trades in her dreams of being a concert pianist or a lawyer to become the ideal wife and mother. Within months, Rob is recruited to work on the Manhattan Project, and the young family moves to Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Just like fission splits an atom’s nucleus, Doris’s marriage threatens to break her heart in two as she is left struggling to nurture her daughter while Rob works around the clock. In an effort to find connection, Doris befriends Betty, a Southern debutante. Even though they come from different backgrounds, the two women sustain each other through difficult moments: Betty’s miscarriage, Rob’s radiation exposure, and his subsequent attempt to enlist to fight at the front.

Despite her attempts to make life in Oak Ridge work, Doris falls for an army engineer—only to realize that he may be a Soviet spy. Should she turn him in and risk losing her marriage? As the end of the war nears, Doris must decide what’s most important—and what she’s willing to lose.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798896360575
Publisher:	She Writes Press
Publication date:	01/27/2026
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256

About the Author

Leslie R. Schover is a renowned psychologist who brings her knowledge of people, relationships, and sexuality to her first novel. Formerly a professor of behavioral science at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, her digital health company, Will2Love.com, won an Innovation Prize in the Astellas C3 Changing Cancer Care contest, and she has received the Holland Distinguished Leadership Award from the American Psychosocial Oncology Association and the Excellence in Clinical Health Psychology Award from the Society for Health Psychology. Leslie lives in Houston, Texas.

Editorial Reviews

During WWII, a young wife struggles to define her role when her husband is chosen to join the secret team who will help create the radioactive fuel for the atom bomb. Instantly relatable, full of rich detail, and beautifully written, Fission will reverberate long after you read the last page.”—Jennie Fields, author of Atomic Love

“Schover’s story provides a quiet, domestic perspective on the Manhattan Project . . . but the softer approach works for this story . . . Doris, with her dogged determination not to sit still for the rest of her life, is a uniquely powerful depiction of a 1940s housewife.”—Kirkus Reviews

“An evocative, richly detailed portrayal of love and betrayal during one of history’s most secretive operations . . . a powerful and impactful story that I’ll certainly remember long after setting it down.”—Readers’ Favorite, 5—star review

“. . . enjoyable to read and very believable, as it describes life in Oak Ridge well.”—D. Ray Smith, Oak Ridge historian and author of the column “Historically Speaking”

“Fission delves into the constraints imposed on women who dared to harbor ambitions beyond being homemakers and mothers . . . an interesting and highly accessible account of this world—changing time and place.”—Galina Vromen, author of Hill of Secrets From the Publisher

2025-08-25
Schover’s historical novel chronicles the domestic life of a young Manhattan Project wife as she seeks her purpose during tumultuous times.

Doris Friedman is a college student and new wife in a small Jewish community in Chicago. Told she can never bear children, she and her husband, Rob, decide to forgo birth control; they are rewarded with a surprise pregnancy that derails all of Doris’ plans. Reluctantly, Doris decides to put school on hold to raise the child. Rob, a brilliant machine enthusiast, is recruited to work as a machine expert on a top-secret government project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee: the Manhattan Project. The young family settles into their new life with Rob working long hours and Doris taking care of their baby, Barbara, studying accounting, and giving piano lessons on the side. Doris soon becomes bored with domestic life (“it’s not enough for me, Rob. I want to make some kind of dent in the world”), and the marriage begins to suffer. Rob is exposed to radiation and ends up in the hospital, where Doris is flung into the path of Dave Sokol, a flirtatious safety officer at the lab. Doris and Dave enter a will-they-won’t-they relationship, culminating in a momentary lapse of judgment and the revelation that Dave may harbor a secret agenda. Doris must decide between turning Dave in and risking her marriage or staying silent and endangering the war effort. Schover’s story provides a quiet, domestic perspective on the Manhattan Project, keeping most of the drama and romance subdued until Doris’ final mistake with Dave. Some readers may struggle with the narrative’s lack of energy, but the softer approach works for this story, highlighting the workaday realities of life at Oak Ridge and the tensions of the time period. The characters all follow believable trajectories, and Doris, with her dogged determination not to sit still for the rest of her life, is a uniquely powerful depiction of a 1940s housewife.

An engrossing, albeit quiet, World War II story about love, loyalty, and the atomic bomb.

Kirkus Reviews