I just finished this excellent little book. I've read the other reviews in this section and count myself fortunate for not taking the book too seriously. Perhaps that is why I so thoroughly enjoyed it. The author has created a marvelous central character in Lieserl. She is exquisitely drawn, the matrix of her emotions and motivations crystal clear without being tedious. There are two stories running in tandem here; the apocryphal story of Einstein's daughter and her integral involvement in the development of the atom bomb, and the story of this extraordinary woman's personal development through soul-numbing deprivation and loss. And it's funny. The "science" of the first story is beautifully foiled by the spirituality of the second. Sure we've seen this story before, though not lately, and as far as I know NEVER with a woman as the central character. I do not hesitate to recommend this book with the following caveat; if you take it too seriously you may throw it down in disgust within the first 50 pages. I have a feeling the author would agree.

Already in the UK, from where I review, this is a beautifully written, if challenging book. But its more your (America's) history than mine. (A similar treatment of Alan Turing would be welcome).

For those not farmilliar with the astonishing events which led to the Bomb, its morality, its characters and the science, this will faithfully take you through that journey.

For those already familiar it challenges the accepted historical record through believable construction. It was only on the thirdish reading (to check out if the allagories were consistent) that I became convinced that the principles of quantum and relativistic physics are embodied in the characters and their actions. If this was accidental it is good fortune, if meant its exceptional writing.

It works as a story and as an alagory. Its unusual to come across a book where the ending is so right, yet so unexpected.

I might have given it full marks, but the English cover is a bit too Yellowish.

If you're in the right mood for it, this story will just pick you up and carry you along. It covers a whole century, several continents, an ever-changing cast of characters, and all takes place just at the edges of major historical events. It will give you a different view of the breakthroughs in physics over the past one hundred years, and also give you an idea of what it must be like to live a life in the grips of an obsession.

I've never read anything that gives such an odd revisionist take on history written so well before - and the writing will certainly engage you.