The Atomic Weight of Love

By Elizabeth J. Church

This is another one of those books I picked up based on the cover. It was covered with birds, so really, I had no choice. I was a little disappointed with how the story went. It seemed like for the longest time nothing really happened in terms of character development, and it all sort of ended up coming up at the end. But I do have to say, it seemed very realistic. Like the author got the story from an actual person who had lived this life. I also couldn't help but identify somewhat with the protagonist, Meridian, who started out as a biologist (animal behavior, no less!) and later picked up art and poetry. The book highlights the prevalent notions at the time (1940s - 1970s) and changing views regarding gender equality. Now that I think about it, this might have been the whole point of delaying Meridian's development. Or maybe I'm over analyzing. [352 pp.]


Link to book.