When Smiles Fade
This is a fictionalized story of Austrian physicist Lise Meitner who discovered nuclear fission that paved the way for power generators using nuclear fuels. Part of the story is actual, and the rest is created by the author.
Hannah Weiss was a professionally battered woman who was treated unfairly in academics because of her gender and Jewish faith in Germany. Deeply hurt by the rising power of the Third Reich and the impact on her life, migrate to United States to work in the Manhattan Project. Robert Oppenheimer (Oppie), the director of the project trying to develop atomic bomb at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico becomes her supervisor. Shortly after coming on board, the mission suspects that Hannah is providing highly sensitive information related to atomic bombs to Nazi Germany. An investigation led by Major Jack Delaney believes that she is a traitor; the evidence on hand are some coded post cards she mailed to her colleague in Germany. Over three days of interrogation, Jack discovers Hannah is not only a brilliant scientist but also a mysterious, lonely, somewhat fragile, and sensual woman who can tease a major general of the U.S. Army. Delaney, himself a Jew goes by an Irish name that hides his identity for personal reasons. He fails to understand the harsh environment of antisemitism in her native Austria and Germany. The author cleverly creates situations for Hannah where she manipulates and seduce Jack. Jack begins to believe that Hannah is innocent, and he sees the feminine side of a lonely woman in male dominated profession. Their love does not go far enough, and it does not end in a relationship, but the author cleverly handles this at the end, but the ending will not be the same as many readers would guess.
One of the moral questions the author poses is to focus on the unfair treatment of Jews by United States during WWII. If she is so genuine, why would she create a story where Hannah already suffered greatly in her life is subject to further humiliation that tarnishes the image of Lise Meitner? Despite these observations, I like the style of author’s writing and strongly recommend reading chapters, 18, 23, 25, 27, 33, 35, and 38 (chapter #s from proof made from author’s manuscript) that narrates the progression of Jack’s feelings for Hannah.
An historical perspective to this book must be in order since the focus of this book is Lise Meitner fictionalized by the author as Hannah Weiss. Albert Einstein first wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt a letter of caution after the publication of Lise Meitner and Otto Hahn paper about nuclear fission that would enable Hitler’s Germany to make an atomic weapon. This ultimately led to the establishment of the Manhattan Project in 1942. Meitner in real life refused an offer to work on the project declaring that she will have nothing to do with a bomb. She was also horrified to learn that it was used on Hiroshima. In fact, she was a leading physicist with Einstein to oppose making atomic weapons.
Meitner was a professionally battered woman and was treated unfairly because of her gender and Jewish faith. Otto Hahn alone was awarded the 1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of nuclear fission. Meitner was deeply hurt, and this injustice by the Nobel Committee has been wildly criticized in the academic world for decades. In 1945, when she was recognized in America for her accomplishments, she dined with President Harry Truman, who at a dinner for the Women’s Press Club honoring Meitner’s accomplishments remarked, “So you’re the little lady who got us into all of this!” Yet despite misleading press reports in Sweden and President Truman’s misperceptions, Meitner never worked on the Manhattan project. She never married and had no children. If major universities in United States had offered her an academic position, she probably would have worked tirelessly to promote physics and science education among women. She would have been a champion to encourage women to study physics.
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