Michelle Shocklee is the author of several historical novels, including All We Thought We Knew; Count the Nights by Stars, a Christianity Today fiction book award winner; and Under the Tulip Tree, a Christy and Selah Awards finalist. Her work has been featured in numerous Chicken Soup for the Soul books, magazines, and blogs. She is married to her college sweetheart and is the proud mother of two grown sons and two lovely daughters-in-law. She makes her home in Tennessee, not far from the historical sites she writes about.
Michelle expounds on her book’s theme of finding freedom in Jesus, even in the middle of the most challenging times in modern history. She also emphasizing the importance of good research and shared some of the ways she found information for her latest novel.
FF: What inspired this story?
I grew up in Santa Fe, NM, not far from Los Alamos, the site where the first atomic bombs were made. Despite being familiar with the history of the Manhattan Project in New Mexico, including the Trinity test, I was unaware of the role the small town of Oak Ridge, Tennessee played in it all.
Several years ago a reader approached me at a book signing in East Tennessee and mentioned that her mother once worked in Oak Ridge. I didn’t know why she told me this, but I didn’t have an opportunity to ask before she left. Curious, I later looked up the history of Oak Ridge and was astounded by what I read. “How did I not know this?” I asked myself. That question ignited the desire to write a story set in Oak Ridge, a government “secret city” like Los Alamos. The people of Oak Ridge, including thousands of women, were instrumental in the making of Little Boy, the first atomic bomb used during wartime. The Women of Oak Ridge is my attempt to share their story.
FF: What messages or themes do you focus on in this book?
As we go through life, we’re faced with decisions every single day. Sometimes they’re small and mundane. Other times they’re big and life-changing. Still other decisions fall into the category of right versus wrong. Honorable versus shameful. It’s those decisions that, if we make the wrong choice, become deep, heavy, dark secrets in our hearts. Secrets we would rather take to our grave than have come into the light.
The Women of Oak Ridge reminds us that the decisions we make and the secrets we carry have lasting repercussions. Mae’s choices, and ultimately her regrets over them, give a clear message that it’s always best to do what is right and good, even when it’s hard. Even when it’s scary.
FF: How does faith play a role in this story?
The theme verse for The Women of Oak Ridge comes from John 8:36: “If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” The main character, Mae, is stuck in the past. She can’t truly live in the present, nor can she dream about the future. She’s done things—terrible things, in her opinion—that prevent her from accepting the grace and freedom found only in Jesus Christ. She can’t believe that God could ever forgive her.
We can all relate to this view of ourselves at different times in our lives. We don’t believe God’s love and grace is for us because of the things we’ve done. Jesus, however, says the exact opposite. He offers full and complete freedom. Freedom from guilt, pain, and past mistakes. Freedom from sin.
In The Women of Oak Ridge, Mae struggles with believing Jesus’ promise of freedom is meant for her. She feels she doesn’t deserve it, and she’s right. None of us deserve the freedom and grace found in Jesus Christ, but that doesn’t stop him from offering it to us. The question then becomes, will we accept it?
FF: What do you hope that readers learn from The Women of Oak Ridge?
As a self-proclaimed history nerd, I hope readers learn something about the Manhattan Project they might not have known before reading the story. Although the topic of atomic weapons is still debated today, the vast majority of people who participated in the Project in the 1940s, especially the thousands of workers in Oak Ridge, had no idea their work would result in a terrible weapon that would be used against Japan. They simply wanted to do their part in bringing the war to an end. Their stories, however, are important and should be told. We can’t change history, but we can learn from it.
FF: What do you find to be the most challenging part of the writing process? What advice would you offer young writers?
Creating believable stories and characters is always a challenge. That’s where research comes in. Research breathes life into my books. Because I write historical fiction, it’s imperative I know how people spoke, dressed, behaved, etc., for the time period I’m writing in. As an example, some of the research involved in writing The Women of Oak Ridge came from watching dozens of video interviews of women and men who worked on the Manhattan Project. Personal stories provide invaluable details.
Photographs are another excellent resource I use for every book I write. Because some of the settings no longer exist, or don’t exist as they did years ago, I study photographs in order to help recreate historical places.
My advice to young writers is, don’t skimp on research. No matter what genre you write, research will always breathe life into the story and the characters.
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The Women of Oak Ridge
Michelle Shocklee
Publisher: Tyndale Fiction
Genre: Historical
Released: September 9, 2025
Available Formats: Paperback, Hardcover, Audiobook, Kindle
ISBN-10: 1496484223
ISBN-13: 978-1496484222
Book Summary:
In the hills of Tennessee, two women work at a Manhattan Project site during World War II and uncover truths that irrevocably change their lives.
1944. Maebelle Willett arrives in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, eager to begin her new government job and send money home to her impoverished family. She knows little about the work she will be doing, but she’s told it will help America win the war. Not all is what it seems, however. Though Oak Ridge employees are forbidden from discussing their jobs, Mae’s roommate begins sharing disturbing information, then disappears without a trace. Mae desperately attempts to find her but instead comes face-to-face with a life-altering revelation—one that comes at significant cost.
1979. Laurel Willett is a graduate student in Boston when she learns about the history of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where thousands unknowingly worked on the atomic bomb. Intrigued because she knows her Aunt Mae was employed there, Laurel decides to spend the summer with her aunt, hoping to add a family connection to her thesis research. But Mae adamantly refuses to talk about her time in the Secret City. Mae’s friends, however, offer to share their experiences, propelling Laurel on her path to uncovering the truth about a missing woman. As Laurel works to put the pieces together, the hidden pain and guilt Mae has tried so hard to bury comes to light…with potentially disastrous consequences.
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