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A Fierce Radiance
Set during the uncertain early days of World War II, this suspenseful story from the New York Times bestselling author of City of Light follows the work of photojournalist Claire Shipley as she captures America’s race to develop life-saving antibiotics—an assignment that will involve blackmail, espionage, and murder.
530 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2010
275 people are currently reading
3758 people want to read
About the author
Lauren Belfer
9 books480 followersLauren Belfer’s most recent novel is ASHTON HALL. Booklist called it "exquisitely illuminated." Fiona Davis said ASHTON HALL is “a brilliant, immersive story rich with intrigue and historical detail, and a stunning achievement.”
Lauren grew up in Buffalo, New York, and decided to become a writer when she was six years old. By the time she was in high school, her literary work was receiving rejection letters from all the best publications. Some of these letters included the initials of the person doing the rejecting, which she interpreted as encouragement. After graduating from Swarthmore College with a B.A. in Medieval Studies and Art History, she worked as a file clerk at an art gallery, a paralegal at a law firm, an assistant photo editor at a newspaper, a fact checker at magazines, and as a researcher and associate producer on documentary films. All the while, she was getting up early in the morning to write fiction. Her first published short story was rejected 42 times before it found an editor who loved it (this was before the days of self-publishing). Her second published story was rejected only 27 times.
Lauren’s debut novel, CITY OF LIGHT, was a New York Times bestseller, as well as a New York Times Notable Book.
Her second novel, A FIERCE RADIANCE, was named a Washington Post Best Novel, an NPR Best Mystery, and a New York Times Editors’ Choice. It was included in the Goodreads posting, "20 Moments that Changed History: A Reading List."
In a four-star review, USA Today said that Lauren's third novel, AND AFTER THE FIRE, “swells with life’s great themes — love and death, family and faith — and the insistent, dark music of loss.” AND AFTER THE FIRE received the inaugural Book Club Award of the National Jewish Book Awards.
Lauren has an M.F.A. from Columbia University, and she lives in New York City.
To learn more about Lauren and her work, please visit her website and follow her on social media:
LaurenBelfer.com
Facebook.com/AuthorLaurenBelfer
Twitter: @LaurenBelfer
Instagram: @LaurenBelfer1
Lauren grew up in Buffalo, New York, and decided to become a writer when she was six years old. By the time she was in high school, her literary work was receiving rejection letters from all the best publications. Some of these letters included the initials of the person doing the rejecting, which she interpreted as encouragement. After graduating from Swarthmore College with a B.A. in Medieval Studies and Art History, she worked as a file clerk at an art gallery, a paralegal at a law firm, an assistant photo editor at a newspaper, a fact checker at magazines, and as a researcher and associate producer on documentary films. All the while, she was getting up early in the morning to write fiction. Her first published short story was rejected 42 times before it found an editor who loved it (this was before the days of self-publishing). Her second published story was rejected only 27 times.
Lauren’s debut novel, CITY OF LIGHT, was a New York Times bestseller, as well as a New York Times Notable Book.
Her second novel, A FIERCE RADIANCE, was named a Washington Post Best Novel, an NPR Best Mystery, and a New York Times Editors’ Choice. It was included in the Goodreads posting, "20 Moments that Changed History: A Reading List."
In a four-star review, USA Today said that Lauren's third novel, AND AFTER THE FIRE, “swells with life’s great themes — love and death, family and faith — and the insistent, dark music of loss.” AND AFTER THE FIRE received the inaugural Book Club Award of the National Jewish Book Awards.
Lauren has an M.F.A. from Columbia University, and she lives in New York City.
To learn more about Lauren and her work, please visit her website and follow her on social media:
LaurenBelfer.com
Facebook.com/AuthorLaurenBelfer
Twitter: @LaurenBelfer
Instagram: @LaurenBelfer1
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 681 reviews
February 24, 2012
I won this through First Reads and thought that it would be really interesting. As far as I can tell it's a historical romance about a doctor who is trying to find a way to mass-produce penicillin and an up-and-coming photographer who wants to tell the story. The divorced photographer lost her young daughter to blood-poisoning caused by a small scrape several years later. I learned that it was really easy to die from stupid stuff like skinned knees. I also learned that the military conscripted the disparate penicillin researchers to speed up the development of mass-production techniques so they would lose fewer soldiers and get them back to the front sooner. With so much going for it, why did I give up on this book after reading 211 of its 530 pages?
First, the author does the one think I really hate to see in historical fiction. She includes nearly every fact she found interesting even if its completely irrelevant to the story. For example, the researcher and his sister (also a researcher) lost their parents to the 1918 influenza epidemic. In one scene (fairly close to where I gave up), the sister is alone in her apartment and starts thinking about her parents' deaths and how people had to bring their dead down to the street to be picked up by death carts from the churches. The city ran out of coffins and people had to be buried in mass graves. This flashback takes up 5-6 pages and doesn't do anything to move the main story forward. Futhermore, the character thinking about the epidemic was four years old at the time her parents died and wouldn't have even remembered all that detail. I lasted through 211 pages of similarly irrelevant flashbacks that seemed to serve the sole purpose of showing how much the author had learned.
The second reason I gave up is that the characters are so impossibly perfect, I couldn't relate to them. They're all beautiful or handsome, successful, and smart. They are flat and their emotions seem unreal. The romance between the doctor and the photographer progresses way too quickly with no romantic tension.
The last reason I gave up is the lack of a clear point of view. If two characters are together, the author bounces from one character's innermost thoughts to another's with nary a paragraph change between. It's annoying and confusing.
I really, really wanted to like this book and I really, really want to know how the penicillin thing works out. I just really, really don't want to wade through another 319 pages to get there. I have two shelves of books to read and several more on my Nook. I just don't have the time to spend wading through all this to find the little bit of story that's interesting.
First, the author does the one think I really hate to see in historical fiction. She includes nearly every fact she found interesting even if its completely irrelevant to the story. For example, the researcher and his sister (also a researcher) lost their parents to the 1918 influenza epidemic. In one scene (fairly close to where I gave up), the sister is alone in her apartment and starts thinking about her parents' deaths and how people had to bring their dead down to the street to be picked up by death carts from the churches. The city ran out of coffins and people had to be buried in mass graves. This flashback takes up 5-6 pages and doesn't do anything to move the main story forward. Futhermore, the character thinking about the epidemic was four years old at the time her parents died and wouldn't have even remembered all that detail. I lasted through 211 pages of similarly irrelevant flashbacks that seemed to serve the sole purpose of showing how much the author had learned.
The second reason I gave up is that the characters are so impossibly perfect, I couldn't relate to them. They're all beautiful or handsome, successful, and smart. They are flat and their emotions seem unreal. The romance between the doctor and the photographer progresses way too quickly with no romantic tension.
The last reason I gave up is the lack of a clear point of view. If two characters are together, the author bounces from one character's innermost thoughts to another's with nary a paragraph change between. It's annoying and confusing.
I really, really wanted to like this book and I really, really want to know how the penicillin thing works out. I just really, really don't want to wade through another 319 pages to get there. I have two shelves of books to read and several more on my Nook. I just don't have the time to spend wading through all this to find the little bit of story that's interesting.
April 25, 2010
A Fierce Radiance crosses genres as a historical novel, a love story, a crime thriller, and a murder mystery. It captured my attention from the very beginning and held it throughout. Claire Shipley is a fascinating character as a photo journalist dealing with situations in her job, her family, and her relationships. Claire is assigned to a local hospital to report on a still experimental drug, penicillin, but her interest was more than professional. Penicillin could have saved the life of the daughter she lost to an infection. Through her work she also meets her love interest, Dr. James Stanton.
The author brings to life the promise and heartache of experimental drugs. Problems arise when they cannot create the drugs quickly enough to give the patient a complete series, and some of the drugs have unexpected side effects. Competition among drug companies, the Federal Government, and greedy business men round out this superb crime drama.
I am very impressed with the author’s depiction of a mother living with the grief of losing a child. In A Fierce Radiance, Lauren Belfer captured this aspect of Claire’s life perfectly. I’ve read other books that do not come close to portraying this appropriately. All of the characters and their roles are clearly defined and developed. Claire is not always likeable, but she is always interesting.
The author brings to life the promise and heartache of experimental drugs. Problems arise when they cannot create the drugs quickly enough to give the patient a complete series, and some of the drugs have unexpected side effects. Competition among drug companies, the Federal Government, and greedy business men round out this superb crime drama.
I am very impressed with the author’s depiction of a mother living with the grief of losing a child. In A Fierce Radiance, Lauren Belfer captured this aspect of Claire’s life perfectly. I’ve read other books that do not come close to portraying this appropriately. All of the characters and their roles are clearly defined and developed. Claire is not always likeable, but she is always interesting.
October 2, 2019
In the late 1920s, Dr. Alexander Fleming, a researcher in London, discovered an experimental drug derived from mold, which was called penicillin. But he did not succeed “in developing the fluid into a viable medication. The mold was temperamental, virtually impossible to work with. Few researchers saw any reason to pursue Fleming’s discovery. Penicillin was essentially forgotten” until 1941, when thousands of lives of wounded soldiers were at stake.
Claire Shipley is a photojournalist sent on assignment, a photo essay on penicillin, to the bustling labs of New York City’s renowned Rockefeller Institute, where one of the brightest doctors and researchers are racing to find a cure. Among them two siblings Dr. James Stanton and Dr. Lucretia Stanton.
In this story, there is a romance and a loss of a family member due to lack of an antibiotic, but none of this is interesting.
The informative part of the story is very interesting. The author does an excellent job on presenting a tragic picture of how helpless the doctors were when it came to treating infections. “A scratch from a rosebush could kill you.”
However, overall, I didn’t feel any connection with the main character or didn’t feel any sympathy for her loss. The prose is pretty dry. It was ok when reading informative text, but not ok for the rest of the story.
@FB/BestHistoricalFiction
Claire Shipley is a photojournalist sent on assignment, a photo essay on penicillin, to the bustling labs of New York City’s renowned Rockefeller Institute, where one of the brightest doctors and researchers are racing to find a cure. Among them two siblings Dr. James Stanton and Dr. Lucretia Stanton.
In this story, there is a romance and a loss of a family member due to lack of an antibiotic, but none of this is interesting.
The informative part of the story is very interesting. The author does an excellent job on presenting a tragic picture of how helpless the doctors were when it came to treating infections. “A scratch from a rosebush could kill you.”
However, overall, I didn’t feel any connection with the main character or didn’t feel any sympathy for her loss. The prose is pretty dry. It was ok when reading informative text, but not ok for the rest of the story.
@FB/BestHistoricalFiction
February 8, 2012
Despite the dreadful title, which sounds like a raunchy, erotic novel, I was drawn to this book because of it's cover. I then read the back and discovered that this is my favorite type of historical fiction - WWII era. I was even more intrigued when I read that the premise of this novel was the discovery and mass production of penecillin, something that I know little about. Combine that with a love story and a murder mystery and needless to say, I had high hopes for this book. But it definitely failed to deliver.
The story is very very very slow, with prose detailing every aspect of the surroundings going on for page after page (no wonder it's 500+ pages). I skimmed a lot of this book. The murder mystery *yawn* comes halfway through and I was already so bored and emotionally removed that I couldn't have cared less. The "love story" should really be considered a "lust story", seeing as James Stanton was too preoccupied with Claire Shipley's breasts to attempt to mass produce penecillin. I guess the title fits after all?
I realize this review is harsh, but the only way I can be very disappointed in a book is when I had high hopes to begin with, right?
The story is very very very slow, with prose detailing every aspect of the surroundings going on for page after page (no wonder it's 500+ pages). I skimmed a lot of this book. The murder mystery *yawn* comes halfway through and I was already so bored and emotionally removed that I couldn't have cared less. The "love story" should really be considered a "lust story", seeing as James Stanton was too preoccupied with Claire Shipley's breasts to attempt to mass produce penecillin. I guess the title fits after all?
I realize this review is harsh, but the only way I can be very disappointed in a book is when I had high hopes to begin with, right?
March 17, 2017
2.5**
Claire Shipley is a photojournalist working for Life magazine in the early years of World War II. She’s assigned to document the medical trials of a new wonder drug – penicillin. While her story never sees print, she becomes involved in the intrigue surrounding the efforts by various big pharmaceutical companies to develop and produce penicillin in large quantities, as needed to fight battle infections during the war.
Well this sounded much more interesting than it wound up being.
I definitely enjoyed some aspects of the novel. I like reading medical histories, and the race to develop a procedure to mass produce penicillin was an important effort in World War II. Like many of the characters in the book, my family suffered the death of a loved one due to infection; my grandfather died of peritonitis resulting from a burst appendix. Penicillin and antibiotics that were developed later spared many such deaths. If Belfer had stayed focused on that exciting story I think I would have greatly enjoyed the book.
But, Belfer included a romantic subplot between Claire and a lead scientist, Dr James Stanton (aka Jamie), as well as broken family ties, a murder, corporate espionage, Russian spies and unethical treatment of the Japanese families interred at various camps. There is just too much going on between the covers of this book for Belfer to give us a cohesive story, and I never got caught up in the novel.
Claire Shipley is a photojournalist working for Life magazine in the early years of World War II. She’s assigned to document the medical trials of a new wonder drug – penicillin. While her story never sees print, she becomes involved in the intrigue surrounding the efforts by various big pharmaceutical companies to develop and produce penicillin in large quantities, as needed to fight battle infections during the war.
Well this sounded much more interesting than it wound up being.
I definitely enjoyed some aspects of the novel. I like reading medical histories, and the race to develop a procedure to mass produce penicillin was an important effort in World War II. Like many of the characters in the book, my family suffered the death of a loved one due to infection; my grandfather died of peritonitis resulting from a burst appendix. Penicillin and antibiotics that were developed later spared many such deaths. If Belfer had stayed focused on that exciting story I think I would have greatly enjoyed the book.
But, Belfer included a romantic subplot between Claire and a lead scientist, Dr James Stanton (aka Jamie), as well as broken family ties, a murder, corporate espionage, Russian spies and unethical treatment of the Japanese families interred at various camps. There is just too much going on between the covers of this book for Belfer to give us a cohesive story, and I never got caught up in the novel.
October 6, 2022
Had hopes for this, but I felt I was reading history through the eyes of a fashion editor. I could not finish and may pick up again. not interesting enough, for all the research that went in to this book.
August 22, 2010
I was very disappointed by this novel. I rate Lauren Belfer's first novel 'City of Light' among my all time favorites and often recommend it. Never in a million years would I have guessed that this novel was written by the same author.
Mrs. Claire Shipley is a photographer for 'Life' magazine in the 1940s. She's given an assignment to cover the experimental use of penicillin by medical researchers at the Rockefeller Institute in New York City. Through this assignment she meets the handsome Dr. James Stanton and his brilliant sister Dr. Lucretia Mott Stanton who are on the forefront of medical research in the field of developing antibiotic medication.
I did enjoy the story line regarding the development of penicillin and other antibiotics. I liked the details about the setting, New York City in the 1940s with the world in the middle of the second World War. I thought enumerating various deaths and a variety of health consequences as a result of childhood diseases was a powerful way to show the reader the context and the importance of the potential for developing antibiotic medication. I also enjoyed the photography thread woven into the story and the Life magazine perspective.
There are interesting threads woven into this story but overall it doesn't have a very polished or finished feel to it. The characters are not well developed, they all feel very stereotypical, with little depth of emotion.
Belfer in my opinion failed to show the disintegration of the main character's first marriage in a realistic or believable way. She also failed to include the difficulties the main character would have encountered as a professional woman in the 1940s. While other women were working on the home front as a result of the war. Claire Shipley had been on staff as a professional photographer for years before the United States entered the war. She also had no friends that ever make it into the story which was unusual.
The writing style itself is simplistic and unsophisticated and the dialog often awkward. A lot of details were included that never moved the story forward, helped develop the characters or added any emotional depth to the story. The way the author reveals the characters and their background also feels clumsy and the mystery and intrigue portion of the story just wasn't well developed.
Overall the right ingredients were included and the story had the potential to be a great one. Unfortunately the execution was less than it could have been and as a result the story falls short of being a great one.
Mrs. Claire Shipley is a photographer for 'Life' magazine in the 1940s. She's given an assignment to cover the experimental use of penicillin by medical researchers at the Rockefeller Institute in New York City. Through this assignment she meets the handsome Dr. James Stanton and his brilliant sister Dr. Lucretia Mott Stanton who are on the forefront of medical research in the field of developing antibiotic medication.
I did enjoy the story line regarding the development of penicillin and other antibiotics. I liked the details about the setting, New York City in the 1940s with the world in the middle of the second World War. I thought enumerating various deaths and a variety of health consequences as a result of childhood diseases was a powerful way to show the reader the context and the importance of the potential for developing antibiotic medication. I also enjoyed the photography thread woven into the story and the Life magazine perspective.
There are interesting threads woven into this story but overall it doesn't have a very polished or finished feel to it. The characters are not well developed, they all feel very stereotypical, with little depth of emotion.
Belfer in my opinion failed to show the disintegration of the main character's first marriage in a realistic or believable way. She also failed to include the difficulties the main character would have encountered as a professional woman in the 1940s. While other women were working on the home front as a result of the war. Claire Shipley had been on staff as a professional photographer for years before the United States entered the war. She also had no friends that ever make it into the story which was unusual.
The writing style itself is simplistic and unsophisticated and the dialog often awkward. A lot of details were included that never moved the story forward, helped develop the characters or added any emotional depth to the story. The way the author reveals the characters and their background also feels clumsy and the mystery and intrigue portion of the story just wasn't well developed.
Overall the right ingredients were included and the story had the potential to be a great one. Unfortunately the execution was less than it could have been and as a result the story falls short of being a great one.
November 12, 2018
This is the book I happened to be reading when the Northern California town I live in was destroyed by a firestorm. The reason I point this out is that it is one of the very few books I took with me while escaping the galloping inferno which destroyed my home and everything in it. While reading it did not change the outcome of what was happening all around me, it DID provide a great mental escape into another time of peril and uncertainty, namely World War II and the unsung story of how penicillin and the class of drugs we now know as antibiotics, came into being. I found the whole 530 page book to be engaging and extremely though provoking as it laid bare corporate greed and military ruthlessness overlaid with a veneer of public altruism. It also showed the very believable human side of the development of this world-changing drug and the personal anguish that many people paid to bring it to fruition. Because of the devastation happening in my world as I was reading it, a great many truths were brought home regarding the fragility of life as well as the complex nature of man which is always interlaced with both bad & good. I really liked the book and its different perspectives. I felt that the main characters of Claire, Jamie, Charlie and Edward Rutherford were well-drawn, believably motivated, but carrying the seeds of their own sorrows by their behaviors, which were often at cross-purposes. Thus, I was saddened and unsatisfied by the ending. Despite that, it was a great read and one I will recommend to people who are looking for a thoughtful, yet pacey medical saga. By the way, I felt the amount of medical detail was just right: enough to give authenticity to the scientific background without ever becoming too clinical.
July 18, 2010
A Fierce Radiance opens in the days following Pearl Harbor but the more immediate historical context is the development of penicillin and similar drugs. With this background, the novel develops both a love story and a murder mystery among a photographer, her family, and players in science and government looking for a medical breakthrough.
I'd give this 3.5 out of 5 if I could. I really enjoyed the background story much more than the feature plot. It feels unimaginable that just 70 years ago a simple scraped kneed could be fatal due to infection. This context story held me much more than the more personal events affecting the photographer and others in her world. I didn't really care to found out what happened in the love story or with the mystery...I obviously knew that penicillin would eventually be productive, but that journey interested me more than the other plots.
I did find the writing style enjoyable. It was a fluid read, not overly difficult but requiring some level of attention. The shifting of focal characters from chapter to chapter was a bit confusing a few times but generally worked and held my interest more than a traditional narrational style might have.
(Review based on a copy of the novel provided by HarperCollins)
I'd give this 3.5 out of 5 if I could. I really enjoyed the background story much more than the feature plot. It feels unimaginable that just 70 years ago a simple scraped kneed could be fatal due to infection. This context story held me much more than the more personal events affecting the photographer and others in her world. I didn't really care to found out what happened in the love story or with the mystery...I obviously knew that penicillin would eventually be productive, but that journey interested me more than the other plots.
I did find the writing style enjoyable. It was a fluid read, not overly difficult but requiring some level of attention. The shifting of focal characters from chapter to chapter was a bit confusing a few times but generally worked and held my interest more than a traditional narrational style might have.
(Review based on a copy of the novel provided by HarperCollins)
December 26, 2010
I just could not get into this book. I loved the setup – it takes place in the US during WWII and the deals with the advent of penicillin. It’s unique, I think, to find a WWII era book that takes place in America. Plus, with the penicillin angle it was a completely unique premise. However, something about the writing style really put me off. The prose was robotic in a way. Also, it’s like she always used 2-3 sentences to express something that could’ve been stated in one. Opening to a random page in the book I find this example: “When the ringing continued, Claire remembered it was Saturday and she’d given Maritza the weekend off. Maritza would have left for her own home earlier this morning.” The second sentence is unnecessary. This happened constantly throughout the book and it's why the book is 530 pages. The plot is not so complicated that it needs to be that long. Furthermore, the characters were all pretty flat and I didn’t care about the romance in the slightest. I will give the author major props for her research. Some of the historical details were fascinating and she clearly did her homework. Overall, though, this was vaguely painful for me to get through.
November 6, 2022
On December 10, 1941, Claire Shipley, a photo-journalist for Life magazine, is doing a shoot to document an attempt to save a life by using a new drug Penicillin and so begins Belfer's intriguing story of the drugs development and use during World War II and the government and industry's part in the development.
This story pulled me in and I appreciated the depth of the main characters, the understanding of the issues of the day and the setting, primarily NYC.
I was intrigued by the parallels between the development of Penicillin and the development of the Covid vaccines.
I'm not sure that everyone will love this, as the love story is on occasion overwrought and many people avoid novels about World War II, but I really loved this book.
This story pulled me in and I appreciated the depth of the main characters, the understanding of the issues of the day and the setting, primarily NYC.
I was intrigued by the parallels between the development of Penicillin and the development of the Covid vaccines.
I'm not sure that everyone will love this, as the love story is on occasion overwrought and many people avoid novels about World War II, but I really loved this book.
January 27, 2011
The city is New York, the time is the Second World War, and the issue is Penicillin.
"A Fierce Radiance" is a well told story that uses th above three items to weave a story, true or untrue, about the emergence of penicillin into the medical world.
Prior to penicillin one of the deadliest conditions for man was an infection. Even a small cut could mean death within days if infected with a staphylococci strain.
CFlaire Shipley, a Life photographer, has lost a daughter to an infection and finds herself immersed in the effort to find a way to cultivate penicillin quickly and in mass quantities.
She finds herself working at a hospital where Dr. James Staton and his sister are heading this research. Dr. Stanton becomes head of the government agency that is coordinating the effort for penicillin and is responsible to ensure that the Pharmaceutical Companies are putting out maximum effort on the drug.
The problem is the companies are not putting out much effort on penicillin because the government has deemed that they cannot realize a profit from the drug. The drug is needed desperately to ward off infection of injured soldiers. The drug companies are putting their efforts into "cousin" drugs that are derivatives of penicillin, so that they can make a hugh profit manufacturing a drug not controlled by the government.
Claire's father, whom she has been estranged from for years, is very wealthy and has purchased a drug company. She strongly suspects that her father is following along the same steps as the other drug companies. In fact, he has purchased a formula that was discovered by Dr. Stanton's murdered sister.
Her father's company is first to market a penicillin "cousin". Although untested, Claire, her father, and Dr. Stanton must decide to us the drug on Claire's son, who will definately die without the drug.
A truly excellent story that, true or untrue, gives a wonderful picture of this time in history.
"A Fierce Radiance" is a well told story that uses th above three items to weave a story, true or untrue, about the emergence of penicillin into the medical world.
Prior to penicillin one of the deadliest conditions for man was an infection. Even a small cut could mean death within days if infected with a staphylococci strain.
CFlaire Shipley, a Life photographer, has lost a daughter to an infection and finds herself immersed in the effort to find a way to cultivate penicillin quickly and in mass quantities.
She finds herself working at a hospital where Dr. James Staton and his sister are heading this research. Dr. Stanton becomes head of the government agency that is coordinating the effort for penicillin and is responsible to ensure that the Pharmaceutical Companies are putting out maximum effort on the drug.
The problem is the companies are not putting out much effort on penicillin because the government has deemed that they cannot realize a profit from the drug. The drug is needed desperately to ward off infection of injured soldiers. The drug companies are putting their efforts into "cousin" drugs that are derivatives of penicillin, so that they can make a hugh profit manufacturing a drug not controlled by the government.
Claire's father, whom she has been estranged from for years, is very wealthy and has purchased a drug company. She strongly suspects that her father is following along the same steps as the other drug companies. In fact, he has purchased a formula that was discovered by Dr. Stanton's murdered sister.
Her father's company is first to market a penicillin "cousin". Although untested, Claire, her father, and Dr. Stanton must decide to us the drug on Claire's son, who will definately die without the drug.
A truly excellent story that, true or untrue, gives a wonderful picture of this time in history.
January 16, 2019
This novel is enormous in scope. It covers lots of topics and crosses several genres. I’m not mad about it. I love a meaty book!
Historical fiction set shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, A Fierce Radiance also includes a heart-wrenching love story, a murder mystery and infuriating corporate greed. Lauren Belfer weaves these elements seamlessly into an intriguing story that swept me in immediately. It was not a difficult read, but it definitely requires concentration.
The background of the novel involves the development of penicillin and its “cousins,” later known as antibiotics. It is hard to fathom that less than 80 years ago, a minor scratch could end up being fatal due to infection. These medications, which we take so for granted now, were mysterious and risky, and the government was in competition with pharmaceutical companies to control their use. It is easy to see, from reading this history, how Big Pharma has become Big Pharma. Oh yes, the corporate manipulation isn’t new, folks!
Character development is exceptional, plot flows. If I have one complaint, it is that occasionally I got bogged down in lengthy, detailed descriptions. But I will definitely read this author again.
Historical fiction set shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, A Fierce Radiance also includes a heart-wrenching love story, a murder mystery and infuriating corporate greed. Lauren Belfer weaves these elements seamlessly into an intriguing story that swept me in immediately. It was not a difficult read, but it definitely requires concentration.
The background of the novel involves the development of penicillin and its “cousins,” later known as antibiotics. It is hard to fathom that less than 80 years ago, a minor scratch could end up being fatal due to infection. These medications, which we take so for granted now, were mysterious and risky, and the government was in competition with pharmaceutical companies to control their use. It is easy to see, from reading this history, how Big Pharma has become Big Pharma. Oh yes, the corporate manipulation isn’t new, folks!
Character development is exceptional, plot flows. If I have one complaint, it is that occasionally I got bogged down in lengthy, detailed descriptions. But I will definitely read this author again.
December 18, 2024
A great melodrama that gives insight to the beginnings of penicillin and its cousins, other antibiotics. I've said this before, but I'll say it again: Belfer is one of my favorite authors. And now I've read all her books, so I'm hoping a new one is on the horizon for 2025.
June 23, 2010
Thank you Goodreads--another First Reads win!
Belfer is a great story teller. I loved the protagonist, Claire Shipley, a photojournalist with Life magazine, caught up in the scientific world of penicillin research during World War II, and the political intrigue of the early 1940s. She was definitely a woman ahead of her time—strong and career oriented.
The book is well researched and well-told. I was intrigued from beginning to end. The details surrounding World War II and life at the time in New York City are fascinating and a real education. Among other things one learns about medical experiments performed in Japanese Internment camps (specifically Camp Minidoka in Idaho); that “Fifth Columnists” was the term used for Japanese, German and Italian-American traitors who supported their native countries during the war; and that Bund referred to Nazi sympathizers who had gone underground. And, I got a kick out of this piece of trivia—servicemen injected hothouse cherry tomatoes with vodka to make portable Bloody Mary’s.
I found myself googling various historical characters to learn more about them. I’d never heard of Vannevar Bush (no relation to the Presidents Bush) who not only was in charge of penicillin distribution to the military, but was also a primary organizer of the Manhattan Project. Belfer describes Henry Luce as being unapproachable and his wife, Clare Booth Luce, is referred to as a holy terror, snobbish, condescending and mean-spirited. John D. Rockefeller is depicted as a gaunt old man who handed out small change and leered at pretty young nurses.
I was amazed at how many personal links I have with this story—my father was a research physician and developed two drugs still on the market; I had scarlet fever when I was in 2nd grade and was isolated in an upstairs bedroom. My dad gave me quarters to swallow huge sulfa tablets. This was after WW II, but I know even then my dad was very cautious about the use of penicillin as your body can acclimate itself to it until the drug no longer works. Before digital photography took over my life, I was a dark room photographer. Claire in the darkroom printing and manipulating photos brought back memories of my days in the photo lab at IU. My love of baseball is even represented when Claire attends a Dodgers vs. Pirates game held early because of the dim-outs. Fans were instructed to throw foul balls back to be sent to the Armed Service’s teams.. . . and though the story primarily takes place in New York, it ends in Indiana, my home state.
Belfer uses descriptive imagery much like she’s telling the story through the lens of a camera as the repeating ‘hats’ image shows; i.e. her fashion shoot at the Brooklyn Navy Yard with the models wearing Johnny Jeep hats (small round khaki hats with an all-around brim inspired by army hats). And, when she covers the aftermath of the Coconut Grove nightclub fire in Boston—with hundreds dead and hundreds more injured, her final shot is of a stack of hats found at the scene. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Belier, herself, is a photographer.
I loved the truth of this novel—as the author explains it—the shades of grey. Besides the thrill of adventure, the revelation of that part of U.S. history and the correlation of politics and science; we learn through her characters that we can’t expect perfection from others. It’s a fascinating and worthwhile read. I’m definitely going to look for Belfer’s other book “City Of Light.” She made me a fan with this one.
Belfer is a great story teller. I loved the protagonist, Claire Shipley, a photojournalist with Life magazine, caught up in the scientific world of penicillin research during World War II, and the political intrigue of the early 1940s. She was definitely a woman ahead of her time—strong and career oriented.
The book is well researched and well-told. I was intrigued from beginning to end. The details surrounding World War II and life at the time in New York City are fascinating and a real education. Among other things one learns about medical experiments performed in Japanese Internment camps (specifically Camp Minidoka in Idaho); that “Fifth Columnists” was the term used for Japanese, German and Italian-American traitors who supported their native countries during the war; and that Bund referred to Nazi sympathizers who had gone underground. And, I got a kick out of this piece of trivia—servicemen injected hothouse cherry tomatoes with vodka to make portable Bloody Mary’s.
I found myself googling various historical characters to learn more about them. I’d never heard of Vannevar Bush (no relation to the Presidents Bush) who not only was in charge of penicillin distribution to the military, but was also a primary organizer of the Manhattan Project. Belfer describes Henry Luce as being unapproachable and his wife, Clare Booth Luce, is referred to as a holy terror, snobbish, condescending and mean-spirited. John D. Rockefeller is depicted as a gaunt old man who handed out small change and leered at pretty young nurses.
I was amazed at how many personal links I have with this story—my father was a research physician and developed two drugs still on the market; I had scarlet fever when I was in 2nd grade and was isolated in an upstairs bedroom. My dad gave me quarters to swallow huge sulfa tablets. This was after WW II, but I know even then my dad was very cautious about the use of penicillin as your body can acclimate itself to it until the drug no longer works. Before digital photography took over my life, I was a dark room photographer. Claire in the darkroom printing and manipulating photos brought back memories of my days in the photo lab at IU. My love of baseball is even represented when Claire attends a Dodgers vs. Pirates game held early because of the dim-outs. Fans were instructed to throw foul balls back to be sent to the Armed Service’s teams.. . . and though the story primarily takes place in New York, it ends in Indiana, my home state.
Belfer uses descriptive imagery much like she’s telling the story through the lens of a camera as the repeating ‘hats’ image shows; i.e. her fashion shoot at the Brooklyn Navy Yard with the models wearing Johnny Jeep hats (small round khaki hats with an all-around brim inspired by army hats). And, when she covers the aftermath of the Coconut Grove nightclub fire in Boston—with hundreds dead and hundreds more injured, her final shot is of a stack of hats found at the scene. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Belier, herself, is a photographer.
I loved the truth of this novel—as the author explains it—the shades of grey. Besides the thrill of adventure, the revelation of that part of U.S. history and the correlation of politics and science; we learn through her characters that we can’t expect perfection from others. It’s a fascinating and worthwhile read. I’m definitely going to look for Belfer’s other book “City Of Light.” She made me a fan with this one.
February 28, 2012
A Fierce Radiance' by Lauren Belfer is a compelling novel. Comprised of several genres, this is a book to pick up and savor. I was kept riveted by a combination of history, romance and mystery. This mix makes for athrilling ride that kept me enthralled throughout.
The era is 1941 through 1944. The book opens just after Japan has bombed Pearl Harbor. Our country has declared war and young men are being drafted or
signing up for the military. Some of us can still picture this era. For those of you who are younger, let me give you a taste. Disease is rampant. There is no cure for polio, streptococcus infections, pneumonia, sepsis, cholera,tetanus or scarlet fever. There is a season for every illness and parents are frightened all the time that their children will die. Adults are frightened for their own lives. On top of that, our nation is at war and, other than sulfa drugs, which have limited curative ability, the United States has no medications to halt infection or disease for its own military.
Claire Shipley is a successful photographer for `Life Magazine', the most popular news magazine in the nation. She has already lost one child to sepsis eight years ago. One day Emily fell on the sidewalk and cut her knee. A few days later she was dead. Her younger son, Charlie, is still living but Claire fears for his life at every turn. Claire is assigned to do a photo essay on penicillin, a new drug that is supposedly being developed. This miracle drug, developed from a green mold, is an antibiotic that is said to have the power to stop gram positive infections in their tracks.
Dr. James Stanton is a physician who is at the forefront of penicillin's development so, in a sense, he holds the key to life and death. However, the supply of this drug is very limited and it is being produced in jars, bedpans and whatever other containers can be found. James meets Claire during the photo shoot and sparks fly. Theirs is a love at first sight but they don't have much time because James is immediately sent to the war front. His job is to utilize the short supplies of penicillin on the injured servicemen.
Meanwhile, government agencies are becoming directly involved in the production of penicillin. Money is being allocated to institutes and scientists involved in its development. The pharmaceutical companies are ordered to cooperate rather than compete. The government declares that there is to be no patent on penicillin. Rather, it is to be developed by all private companies and utilized for wartime efforts.
James' sister, Tia, is working on an alternative type of antibiotic, one that comes from the soil. The pharmaceutical companies get wind of this and start pouring their efforts into what they term `the cousins' to penicillin - alternative antibiotics that work on gram negative as well as gram positive infections. This is being done in secret. Claire gets wind of this and tries to get to the bottom of things. Now things get very interesting and the book becomes a real thriller.
I loved Lauren Belfer's first novel, and 'A Fierce Radiance' does not disappoint. She has done her research. I am usually not a great fan of historical novels, but this one is different than most others. It grabs you and may even rip your shirt in the process. I suggest that you buckle down for a satisfying read. You'll be so riveted you may not be able to come up for air or find the time to sew your shirt.
The era is 1941 through 1944. The book opens just after Japan has bombed Pearl Harbor. Our country has declared war and young men are being drafted or
signing up for the military. Some of us can still picture this era. For those of you who are younger, let me give you a taste. Disease is rampant. There is no cure for polio, streptococcus infections, pneumonia, sepsis, cholera,tetanus or scarlet fever. There is a season for every illness and parents are frightened all the time that their children will die. Adults are frightened for their own lives. On top of that, our nation is at war and, other than sulfa drugs, which have limited curative ability, the United States has no medications to halt infection or disease for its own military.
Claire Shipley is a successful photographer for `Life Magazine', the most popular news magazine in the nation. She has already lost one child to sepsis eight years ago. One day Emily fell on the sidewalk and cut her knee. A few days later she was dead. Her younger son, Charlie, is still living but Claire fears for his life at every turn. Claire is assigned to do a photo essay on penicillin, a new drug that is supposedly being developed. This miracle drug, developed from a green mold, is an antibiotic that is said to have the power to stop gram positive infections in their tracks.
Dr. James Stanton is a physician who is at the forefront of penicillin's development so, in a sense, he holds the key to life and death. However, the supply of this drug is very limited and it is being produced in jars, bedpans and whatever other containers can be found. James meets Claire during the photo shoot and sparks fly. Theirs is a love at first sight but they don't have much time because James is immediately sent to the war front. His job is to utilize the short supplies of penicillin on the injured servicemen.
Meanwhile, government agencies are becoming directly involved in the production of penicillin. Money is being allocated to institutes and scientists involved in its development. The pharmaceutical companies are ordered to cooperate rather than compete. The government declares that there is to be no patent on penicillin. Rather, it is to be developed by all private companies and utilized for wartime efforts.
James' sister, Tia, is working on an alternative type of antibiotic, one that comes from the soil. The pharmaceutical companies get wind of this and start pouring their efforts into what they term `the cousins' to penicillin - alternative antibiotics that work on gram negative as well as gram positive infections. This is being done in secret. Claire gets wind of this and tries to get to the bottom of things. Now things get very interesting and the book becomes a real thriller.
I loved Lauren Belfer's first novel, and 'A Fierce Radiance' does not disappoint. She has done her research. I am usually not a great fan of historical novels, but this one is different than most others. It grabs you and may even rip your shirt in the process. I suggest that you buckle down for a satisfying read. You'll be so riveted you may not be able to come up for air or find the time to sew your shirt.
October 8, 2021
A Fierce Radiance by Lauren Belfer was one of those pleasantly surprising novels, begun without much expectation or knowledge about its potential quality or content.
No only was it, in general, well-written and engrossing, it was a fascinating insight into the history of the development of penicillin and other anti-bacterial medicines in America during WWII.
Like many, I was aware that Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928, but I had no idea that it had been so difficult to manufacture in stable and useful quantities. It took the crisis of a World War to ramp up efforts to make it available, initially to the military only, and later to the general public, to fight wide range of infections. Today, we take antibiotics for granted, and the new crisis is due to overuse and the rapidly increasing resistance of bacteria to this class of drugs.
Belfer has framed her story around a photographer for Life magazine, Claire Shipley, who lost her young daughter to a simple infection that was unable to be treated satisfactorily at the time.
Claire is assigned as a photo journalist to cover a story involving the trial development of penicillin and the treatment of a male patient, a father, in a New York hospital. The initial treatment is successful, but the patient dies because the hospital is unable to maintain sufficient supply of the the drug, which is grown as a green mould in milk bottles in the lab.
With America's entry into the war following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, and the realisation that many soldiers were dying or becoming incapacitated from minor wounds that became infected, the American government coordinated a massive effort to develop penicillin in sufficient quantities to make it readily available to troops in theatres of war.
The government insisted on owning all patents to encourage cooperation and to prevent drug companies from profiteering, and also insisted that they work only on penicillin development.
But preliminary work had begun on developing other forms of anti-bacterials, based on moulds from soils, and the wily companies, like Pfizer, worked secretly on these drugs as well, with a view to gaining exclusive patents and the massive profits that would come from them.
Belfer has fleshed out her story, which is based on actual events, and which includes a mix of real and fictional characters, around medical science, industrial and international espionage, murder, government coercion, mixed with smatterings of sex, romance and family crises.
All in all, this was a pretty good mix of ingredients (although I could have done without some of the soppier romantic elements) to keep readers interested in story of medical science that is generally not well known.
Next time your doctor prescribes antibiotics for an infection, know that there is a quite intriguing story behind your drugs.
No only was it, in general, well-written and engrossing, it was a fascinating insight into the history of the development of penicillin and other anti-bacterial medicines in America during WWII.
Like many, I was aware that Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928, but I had no idea that it had been so difficult to manufacture in stable and useful quantities. It took the crisis of a World War to ramp up efforts to make it available, initially to the military only, and later to the general public, to fight wide range of infections. Today, we take antibiotics for granted, and the new crisis is due to overuse and the rapidly increasing resistance of bacteria to this class of drugs.
Belfer has framed her story around a photographer for Life magazine, Claire Shipley, who lost her young daughter to a simple infection that was unable to be treated satisfactorily at the time.
Claire is assigned as a photo journalist to cover a story involving the trial development of penicillin and the treatment of a male patient, a father, in a New York hospital. The initial treatment is successful, but the patient dies because the hospital is unable to maintain sufficient supply of the the drug, which is grown as a green mould in milk bottles in the lab.
With America's entry into the war following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, and the realisation that many soldiers were dying or becoming incapacitated from minor wounds that became infected, the American government coordinated a massive effort to develop penicillin in sufficient quantities to make it readily available to troops in theatres of war.
The government insisted on owning all patents to encourage cooperation and to prevent drug companies from profiteering, and also insisted that they work only on penicillin development.
But preliminary work had begun on developing other forms of anti-bacterials, based on moulds from soils, and the wily companies, like Pfizer, worked secretly on these drugs as well, with a view to gaining exclusive patents and the massive profits that would come from them.
Belfer has fleshed out her story, which is based on actual events, and which includes a mix of real and fictional characters, around medical science, industrial and international espionage, murder, government coercion, mixed with smatterings of sex, romance and family crises.
All in all, this was a pretty good mix of ingredients (although I could have done without some of the soppier romantic elements) to keep readers interested in story of medical science that is generally not well known.
Next time your doctor prescribes antibiotics for an infection, know that there is a quite intriguing story behind your drugs.
June 12, 2014
Recommended by a friend, and, once I picked it up, I realized I had read (and really loved) this author’s previous book, City of Light (about Buffalo at the turn of the century). So I was eager to get into this one, and it did not let me down!
Historical fiction about the first mass-production of penicillin during WWII. It had of course been previously discovered by Alexander Fleming but it was notoriously had to produce and to replicate until the U.S. government got behind it during WWII in order to be able to control infections in soldiers. Super-interesting. I also love that most of the events took place in NYC which let me could envision my grandfather’s family living in the similar time and place. (They too had an apt. on Park Avenue and also a live-in “colored” )(!!!!) maid who, my mother remembers, came into the dining room if my great-grandmother pressed a button on the floor with her foot. . .! Craziness.) Furthermore, my grandfather went to Holy Cross, which was also mentioned as the scene of the famous Cocoanut Grove night club fire (where Holy Cross students were celebrating their victory over Boston College), the first time penicillin was tested on humans. I want to ask my dad if my grandfather had still been a student or if he had been rushed off to the war (they rushed them through in 3 years, going year-round, so that they could get off and fight after graduation)!
All in all, an extremely interesting read.
Historical fiction about the first mass-production of penicillin during WWII. It had of course been previously discovered by Alexander Fleming but it was notoriously had to produce and to replicate until the U.S. government got behind it during WWII in order to be able to control infections in soldiers. Super-interesting. I also love that most of the events took place in NYC which let me could envision my grandfather’s family living in the similar time and place. (They too had an apt. on Park Avenue and also a live-in “colored” )(!!!!) maid who, my mother remembers, came into the dining room if my great-grandmother pressed a button on the floor with her foot. . .! Craziness.) Furthermore, my grandfather went to Holy Cross, which was also mentioned as the scene of the famous Cocoanut Grove night club fire (where Holy Cross students were celebrating their victory over Boston College), the first time penicillin was tested on humans. I want to ask my dad if my grandfather had still been a student or if he had been rushed off to the war (they rushed them through in 3 years, going year-round, so that they could get off and fight after graduation)!
All in all, an extremely interesting read.
July 28, 2010
It’s a about the production of penicillin after the outbreak of the WWII. The story deals the clinical awakening to the effect of this new drug, and the commercial dynamics of the pharmaceutical industry racing to perfect mass-production of the drug all the while struggling while governments came to grips with the military consequences of the drug. But what makes this really gripping for me is the way the author inter weaves the clinical, long term commercial and short term military and governmental forces at work with the personal aspects of key characters, doctors and photographers who fall in love, the reunification of parents and children and murder etc etc By the final days of the war every soldier had penicillin in his kit. The NYT calls it a death-haunted medical thriller it’s a superb read.
June 22, 2014
I just finished this book last night and this is one of those stories I feel I need to marinate on, to think about before I comment much. I will say two things: 1) The book was by no means perfect but I LOVE imperfection because... 2) Imperfection is what chokes the heart so you really feel the experience.
I awoke several times during the night thinking about the ending with such a sense of frustrated longing I can already see it's going to be hard to move on. Imperfections (including one big glaring one) be damned, a finished book that can prey on your mind to the extent that it interrupts your sleep pattern is a hugely worthwhile experience.
I awoke several times during the night thinking about the ending with such a sense of frustrated longing I can already see it's going to be hard to move on. Imperfections (including one big glaring one) be damned, a finished book that can prey on your mind to the extent that it interrupts your sleep pattern is a hugely worthwhile experience.
March 3, 2021
Did not finish. Writing was dull - sentences short and choppy; could have been an interesting subject line. Skip it, pal.
“vaccines create immunity to disease by using infectious material to boost the body’s own defenses. With antibacterials like penicillin, we’re introducing natural substances into the body to kill harmful bacteria while leaving healthy cells alone.”
“In the case of the Rockefellers, their riches were the product of collusion and bribery, of the ruthless, often violent suppression of competition and of unions.”
“vaccines create immunity to disease by using infectious material to boost the body’s own defenses. With antibacterials like penicillin, we’re introducing natural substances into the body to kill harmful bacteria while leaving healthy cells alone.”
“In the case of the Rockefellers, their riches were the product of collusion and bribery, of the ruthless, often violent suppression of competition and of unions.”
October 12, 2011
This was a really long and overdramatic story which couldn't decide if it was a romance or a mystery. However, the history in here about the development of penicillin (and the way people dropped off like flies before it) was fascinating.
May 19, 2015
Just couldn't get into this one. It's like CHANGES by Danielle Steel only instead of being a heart surgeon this guy does research into penicillin mold. More romance, less mold!
July 16, 2025
In December 1941, just after Pearl Harbor, Life magazine photographer Claire Shipley is sent to The Rockefeller Institute in New York City to do a photo essay on the medical trial of a new drug, penicillin, on an otherwise healthy man dying of a blood infection. As the development of penicillin becomes a major wartime initiative, Claire becomes determined to stay on the story, even if it will not be published until after the war. From there we see how Claire’s story plays out with her new beau, a penicillin researcher, her long lost father, an investor searching for the next big thing, her young son, and her career. The book starts out a little dry but turns into a nice juicy soap opera by the end. I had no idea the story behind penicillin and other early antibiotics would be so fascinating. There was corporate espionage and murder, near riots, and extremely unethical drug trials. But it was life changing medicine. I liked Claire a lot, and admired her professional savvy and her strength in coming through a divorce at a time when divorce was still a little scandalous. I was less invested in the instant love story between her and Jamie, the researcher she meets early in the book; the soapy part of the book needed a leading man but there could have been a little more foundation given to their relationship. The author had a slightly awkward third person writing style in which she changed the character through whose eyes she is telling the story within a few paragraphs without and page break to indicate it. You’ll be reading about a stuffy government meeting from Jamie’s (Claire’s beau) point of view and suddenly there will be a line about working through medical school , and after a moment you will realize you’ve switched to the observations of Jamie’s colleague Nick, without any indication of change other than that the narration suddenly didn’t make sense for the original narrator. It was very annoying. Despite this, this was a very interesting and compelling book.
May 21, 2021
Rather surprised by how much I liked this book. A love story and a mystery set against a vivid and powerful backdrop of life in New York City beginning right after Pearl Harbor. A strong female lead in the heady days of the primacy of Life Magazine and its photography (she's a photographer). A vivid portrayal of the days before penicillin --discovered 13 years earlier--became a viable antibiotic, thanks to the efforts of the same U.S. government agency that, according to Belfer's notes, supervised the development of of the atomic bomb.
I heard Belfer speak about this book, and she described it (as I recall) as the story of the development of penicillin. What I found most powerful about the book, though, was its portrayal of public vs. private morality, the benefits of wartime research, the complicated nuances of government/private sector partnership, and the excuses we make for the people we love.
Kudos to Belfer for tangling with some compelling themes in a very readable novel.
I heard Belfer speak about this book, and she described it (as I recall) as the story of the development of penicillin. What I found most powerful about the book, though, was its portrayal of public vs. private morality, the benefits of wartime research, the complicated nuances of government/private sector partnership, and the excuses we make for the people we love.
Kudos to Belfer for tangling with some compelling themes in a very readable novel.
June 25, 2024
This intriguing, brilliantly researched novel follows Life photographer Claire Shipley as she investigates the development of penicillin. People are dying, including her own daughter, from infections developed from otherwise seemingly innocuous scratches, and researchers at the Rockefeller Institute are trying to develop a life-saving drug from mold grown in milk bottles.
Claire falls for Dr. James Stanton, a brilliant physicist who heads the top-secret research for the military, providing the reader with a romance which is plagued with obstacles. Add to the mix a murder, espionage and the fears of what Hitler would do to America if he conquered Europe, make this unusual novel full of twists and turns into a page turner.
Claire falls for Dr. James Stanton, a brilliant physicist who heads the top-secret research for the military, providing the reader with a romance which is plagued with obstacles. Add to the mix a murder, espionage and the fears of what Hitler would do to America if he conquered Europe, make this unusual novel full of twists and turns into a page turner.
June 11, 2021
What a disappointment! I was so excited to read this book. Having read Breakthrough: Elizabeth Hughes, the Discovery of Insulin, and the Making of a Medical Miracle, by Arthur Ainsberg and Thea Cooper, I couldn't wait to find out about the people behind all the stories of the development of penicillin. Not to be found. The main characters were fictional and involved mostly in a romance. Some of the minor characters (often barely mentioned) were real, but we didn't really get their whole story, either. I eagerly googled the main doctor. Fictional. I eagerly googled the Life Magazine photographer. Fictional. Such an opportunity missed! I know there are dramatic stories to be told. And, this was a relatively long book. The ending came abruptly and was not satisfying. I'm thinking the author(s) was/were contracted for 500 pages.
ATTENTION all you would-be authors! This is a story that is still waiting to be told.
ATTENTION all you would-be authors! This is a story that is still waiting to be told.
January 11, 2019
This was a good book, but it’s too long. There were a few unnecessary elements that I thought detracted from the plot. I didn’t like the main character nor her love interest very much. But I learned a lot about penicillin so that makes for a fun conversation.
March 22, 2024
Great novel about the fast tracking of penicillin during World War 2 and the development of other life saving drugs. There is mystery and intrigue and the main protagonist is a young woman who is a photographer for Life magazine. I haven’t described it well but it was a really good story. Read for my Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Institution Book Club.
August 21, 2024
Listened on Libby. This book was well written just not my genre. If you enjoy wartime romances and tragedies, a bit of mystery, historical bits, being reminded of some of the negative things men are capable of, and complicated relationships, jump in!
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