A Fierce Radiance

A Novel

By: Lauren Belfer

Narrated by: Paula Christensen

Length: 18 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

From the New York Times best-selling author of City of Light comes a compelling, richly detailed tale of passion and intrigue set in New York City during the tumultuous early days of World War II.

Claire Shipley is a single mother haunted by the death of her young daughter and by her divorce years ago. She is also an ambitious photojournalist, and in the anxious days after Pearl Harbor, the talented Life magazine reporter finds herself on top of one of the nation's most important stories.

In the bustling labs of New York City's renowned Rockefeller Institute, some of the country's brightest doctors and researchers are racing to find a cure that will save the lives of thousands of wounded American soldiers and countless others - a miraculous new drug they call penicillin. Little does Claire suspect how much the story will change her own life when the work leads to an intriguing romance.

This story touches her deeply, stirring memories of her daughter's sudden illness and death - a loss that might have been prevented by this new "miracle drug". And there is James Stanton, the shy and brilliant physician who coordinates the institute's top-secret research for the military. Drawn to this dedicated, attractive man and his work, Claire unexpectedly finds herself falling in love.

But Claire isn't the only one interested in the secret development of this medicine. Her long-estranged father understands just how profitable a new drug like pennicillin could be. When a researcher at the institute dies under suspicious circumstances, the stakes become starkly clear: a murder has been committed to obtain these lucrative new drugs. With lives and a new love hanging in the balance, Claire will put herself at the center of danger to find a killer - no matter what price she may have to pay.

©2010 Lauren Belfer (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers

So many layers of intrigue

A love story during WWII is just one layer. Big Pharma, espionage and the experience of being a working woman during this era kept me coming back for more.

Disappointed

While the historical events were very interesting, the plot meandered and the love story was weak. It went on too long

History is good; writing poor

Pages are filled with tripe while historical characters and situations are good. Meh meh meh

Needs to be abridged!

A friend recommended this book. For those of us interested in the development of antibiotics during World War II A FIERCE RADIANCE is very educational. It is a fictionalized story that is basically scientifically sound. However, the story moves at a frustratingly slow pace. I cannot recommend this otherwise excellent story unless it is abridged.

Historical Fiction Worth Your Time

I love when a novel inspires me to begin my own research into a topic, even if it's only to scratch the surface a bit. The availability of antibiotics, or lack thereof, was never something I gave a thought. As a person born after antibiotics were a familiar part of the medical lexicon, I didn't consider what it was like before we could cover a cut with antibiotic cream and push it from our minds. To think that scraping your knee could result in your death was a revelation to me. This novel is worth your time because of the history woven within it, but you'll enjoy that time because of the story that sometimes breaks your heart and sometimes gives you a great deal of hope.

Long winded and boring

Initially I enjoyed the characters and the details about the invention/testing of penicillin and the details about photography, but the more I read, the less interested I became. Because the story didn't really go anywhere.