Take a fiercely intelligent, ambitious, and profoundly naive college student. Add a brilliant physics professor and a dash of infatuation, and bake slowly in the stifling social mores of mid-20th century small-town USA.

The Atomic Weight of Love spans 60 years in the life of Meridian Wallace. Her dreams of glittering academic success and a career as an ornithologist run counter to the conventions of a society in which a woman is expected to sacrifice her ambitions in favour of her husband’s.

Set against the backgrounds of World War II, the atomic age, the Vietnam War and the women’s liberation movement, The Atomic Weight of Love has all the ingredients for an inspiring tale of one woman’s quest to soar above the limitations imposed on her gender.

However, while the writing is beautifully crafted at times and the narrative touches on a number of important issues, the novel as a whole left me cold. What promises to be a compelling story is undermined by woefully uneven pacing (for instance, the events from 1942 to 1952 are covered in 120 pages, but the following decade fills just 20 pages), awkward dialogue, heavy-handed metaphors, and one-dimensional male characters. Worse, rather than arousing the reader’s sympathy or admiration as intended, many of Meridian’s choices throughout her life will surely challenge even the most empathetic of readers.

Reviewed by Heather Lunney