An Atomic Love Story: The Extraordinary Women in Robert Oppenheimer’s Life
by Shirley Streshinsky, Patricia Klaus
Set against a dramatic backdrop of war, spies, and nuclear bombs, An Atomic Love Story unveils a vivid new view of a tumultuous era and one of its most important figures. In the early decades of the 20th century, three highly ambitious women found their way to the West Coast, where each was destined to collide with the young Oppenheimer, the enigmatic physicist whose work in creating the atomic bomb would forever impact modern history.
His first and most intense love was for Jean Tatlock, though he married the tempestuous Kitty Harrison—both were members of the Communist Party—and was rumored to have had a scandalous affair with the brilliant Ruth Sherman Tolman, ten years his senior and the wife of another celebrated physicist. Although each were connected through their relationship to Oppenheimer, their experiences reflect important changes in the lives of American women in the 20th century: the conflict between career and marriage; the need for a woman to define herself independently; experimentation with sexuality; and the growth of career opportunities.
Praise for An Atomic Love Story:
“Through diligent research, brilliant insights, and clear, incisive writing, Streshinsky and Klaus have deepened our understanding of Robert Oppenheimer’s emotional life and loves…Anyone with the slightest interest in Oppenheimer’s biography will not be able to put it down.”
—Martin J. Sherwin, co-author of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize-winning American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
“…a story of many loves. A whole new range of Robert Oppenheimer’s life emerges, a deeper and richer view of one of the pivotal figures of the 20th century.”
—Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb
