📖 Book Review 📖

🎧”The Physicist’s Daughter” by Mary Anna Evans

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 published June 7, 2022

Women impacted WWII on the home front more than we realize. In 1944 New Orleans, Justine Byrne is working in a government factory welding boat parts, or that is what she is told. When things start breaking she begins to wonder if someone is sabotaging the factory. Many underestimate the young Justine, and even fewer realize her parents were amazing physicists. Puzzles, writing in codes, just how her brain works is more than the average. Her dad wrote/published his work, included his wife and even once little Justine. Undermining this factory was a dumb move by the axis as Justine will figure it all out.

Thank you to @netgalley for the arc audiobook

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The story reinforced women intuition and how important they were during WWII. Being a spy is a talent not necessary limited by gender. Also it address that smart people are not only educated people. Education was not offered to everyone as easy as we believe to.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for providing me with this ALC in exchange for an honest review!

This was such a gripping and exciting book! It felt very "Hidden Figures" meets "Nancy Drew" if that makes sense, and I was hooked! I loved the friendship and loyalty themes, as well as the duality of Justine being a big smarty pants who also is looking for a cutie. I will say that I thought the way that the conflict between Justine and her friend (I'm genuinely upset that I can't remember her name and I don't have audiobook anymore!!) could have come about a little more naturally, that whole section felt a little strange. However, I am a total sucker for big brain women, amateur detectives, a bit of romance, and lots of plot twists! If you are too, then you should definitely check this one out!

Loved this. It is as if someone read my reviews and mind, made a check list and said, For You. Please don't miss the author notes at the conclusion.

The Physicists' Daughter is in New Orleans during WWII. She works in a factory knowing when the war is over she will not be allowed to keep her job. In the meantime, she works hard, scrapes by, and starts to notice things aren't right. No spoilers.

I appreciate that the author took each character and kept them in the story where their upbringing, education, and social skills would realistically keep them. I loved that sexual favors, exploits, and foul language were not present.

This is a simple, well-crafted and thought-out story that pays homage to the people working in the US to support the troops during WWII.

The narrator, Kimberly Wetherell, was perfect.

This would be a good car, nursing home or Bible study audiobook gift. A researched, good and clean fiction book with multiple openings to teach the horrors of WW II as age and maturity, as well as situation warrants.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for accepting my request to read and review The Physicists' Daughter.

Mary Ann Evans, I look forward to exploring your other works.

Every time I read WWII historical fiction I find myself completely invested and transported. It is one of my favorite genres to get lost in. This was no exception and at the same time was a breath of fresh air. We have an interesting, likable, intelligent, strong female protagonist up against spies and sabotage and sexism. I found myself thoroughly entertained and highly recommend for fans of this genre looking for a distinct viewpoint.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you so much to @netgalley and @dreamscape_media for the gifted audiobook!

Pub date: 6/7/22 Available now!!!

I enjoy reading historical fiction about women in WWII who are often not recognized for their contributions during the war. The protagonist Justine Byrne was raised by late parents who instilled her a sense of autonomy and self-worth as they were physicists. She learned science by their side and also learned German as her parents worked with German scientists before the war.

Justine works in a factory where the staff are not privy to what is being built. She uncovers a plot to sabotage the assembly line. Justine doesn’t know who to trust with her suspicions and unknowingly puts herself in danger.

My negative feedback was that I struggled to listen to the narrator and got bored with the storyline at certain points as it was slow.

*Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Poisoned Pen Press for the audiobook ARC of The Physicist’s Daughter by Mary Anne Evans in exchange for an honest review.

The Physicists’Daughter by Mary Anna Evans explored what was happening on the home front of the United States during World War II. As a historical fiction mystery, it portrayed brave, curious, intelligent and determined women willing and able to do their part for the war effort. Some of these women were not as complacent as some of their supervisors would have hoped they’d be with the lack of information they were granted about what they were doing to help to the war effort. Women were needed to do the work in the factories with the majority of the men off fighting the war. They were not treated well in the work place though. Women were not respected or appreciated for their abilities even when their performances were equal or superior to the men they replaced. The Physicists’ Daughter was well written and the characters were engaging and believable. I learned a whole new aspect of what was going on in the United States during World War II.

Justine Byrne was the daughter of parents that were both brilliant and well respected physicists. She was bright and curious as she grew up in that environment and understood more about science, machines and even welding than most children her age. Both her parents had always encouraged her to learn. Justine easily learned and became fluent in other languages and even learned to read and write Braille when her mother began to loose her eyesight and eventually went blind. She had aspirations to go to college, study physics and work beside her parents. That dream was shattered when her parents tragically died in a car accident. Justine was forced to sell her childhood home and seek work at Higgin’s plant located in the Michaud District of New Orleans. Higgin’s plant helped produce boats for the war. Justine began to work on an assembly line in the newly formed Carbon Division. All the workers in the Carbon Division of Higgin’s plant were sworn to secrecy. Even though the workers were not trusted with or privy to the information about what they were helping to make, they were instructed not discuss anything that occurred in the Carbon Division with anyone from the outside. Justine imagined that they were making parts for radios used on the boats the factory produced. Then the machinery in the Carbon division began breaking more often than one would expect. Justine began to speculate that perhaps someone, perhaps a spy, was trying to sabotage their operation. She was called upon to use her welding expertise that her late father had taught her to fix the machines. Justine began to suspect that there was a spy among them that was trying to sabotage the operation. If they were making parts for radios why would the enemy want to disrupt the operations? What were they producing? Why were they sworn to secrecy? Who could Justine trust? Would she be able to discover who the spy was before it was too late?

The Physicists’ Daughter by Mary Anna Evans was told from the POV of Justine and the two men who were vying for her heart. It was a suspenseful and compelling historical fiction mystery with a touch of romance. The themes of espionage, sabotage, friendship, the way women were treated and looked upon in the 1940’s, science and traitorous acts were all explored. The way German spies entered the United States and infiltrated themselves into strategic environments was made evident throughout The Physicists’ Daughter. I enjoyed listening to the audiobook of The Physicists’ Daughter that was performed very well by Kimberly M. Wetherell. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media LLC for allowing me to listen to the audiobook of The Physicists’ Daughter through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you to @netgalley and @dreamscape_media for the ALC of The Physicists’ Daughter. This book published a couple days ago, June 7th. Happy belated book birthday! 📒🧁

I was interested in this audiobook because it’s an historical fiction whose main character is a woman in STEM. 👩‍🔬Sign me up!

Justine Byrne is the daughter of two physicists who taught her how to think scientifically and weren’t afraid to have highly technical conversations with her. Unfortunately, they died in a car crash before she was able to leave for college.

Now, WWII is on and instead of college, Justine has taken a welding position in a local factory. She is a member of the secretive Carbon Division where no one knows exactly what they’re making, just bits and pieces of something big. But, she keeps getting called to weld pieces back together that have no clear reason for failing…could someone inside be trying to sabotage the factory’s efforts?? German spies??

I enjoyed this one and love the women in STEM representation. The author, Mary Anna Evans, also holds degrees in physics and engineering, so you know what you’re reading is legit.

Overall, I thought this was a solid historical fiction novel. While it wasn’t my favorite ever, I still thought it was quite good and would recommend it to other fans of historical fiction.

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨/5

This was an excellent book. I love historical history of this era. This is a subject they I have never read about. I loved Justine and that she was welder. It put attention to the fact that women took mens jobs during the war.

The Physicists’ Daughter is a WW2 era romance/espionage/mystery by Mary Anna Evans. Released 7th June 2022 by Poisoned Pen Press, it's 352 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a competently written historical romance and slice-of-life story set in Louisiana around the daily lives of some of the women who have taken jobs which were traditionally given to men in the defense industry. There are several disparate plot threads, including some espionage and skullduggery. The mystery parts of the plot are generally secondary to the romance and historical fiction parts but there's an engaging and ongoing development through the characters which kept me interested and reading to the end.

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 10 hours and 39 minutes and is capably narrated by Kimberly Wetherell. The narrator has a clear and pleasantly warm voice which is easy to listen to. Many of the characters have very distinct regional accents, including Polish and Lousiana/bayou. The narrator gave a good attempt, but was not always entirely successful. The non-accented narration was fine and enjoyable. Sound and production quality were high throughout the recording.

Four stars. Recommended mostly for fans of women's historical fiction and wartime romance, not so much for mystery or espionage fans.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Thank you to NetGalley the audio version of this book. This book is a very informative book. I thought it was just a novel with nothing important but here to find out it is based on real life facts and events. This is a must read book!

It’s 1944 and Justine Byrne is working on a product assembly line in New Orleans to pay her bills after both her parents, famous physicists are killed in a car accident. Because her father taught her to weld, her experience is invaluable to her boss, who relies on Justine to repair the conveyer belt and other parts of the line that keep failing. Justine starts to realize that maybe these aren’t just normal wear and tear issues, but sabotages, which leads her to think about what they are actually making. With more questions than answers, Justine sets out to find the truth.

I love historical fiction - it’s my favorite genre, so this book suited me perfectly. With the mystery and a little romance added in, The Physicists’ Daughter was fabulous. I loved the suspense and action, along with the female friendship bonds Justine formed. This is one of the best books I read this year and it’ll stick with me for some time.

This is a Historical Suspense Fiction book that takes place during WWII in the USA. This whole book is about what is going on in a factory that is making things for the war, and it is a super secret no one working in the factory even knows what they are making. I really loved getting to know the characters in this book, and I also loved trying to figure out what was going on. This book will keep you guessing and had a ton of suspense built up throughout this book. I enjoyed the historical parts of this book, and I think the historical parts were really well done. I listened to the audiobook for this book, and I found the narrator to be ok. I was kindly provided an e-copy and e-audiobook of this book by the publisher (Poisoned Pen Press) or author (Mary Anna Evans) via NetGalley, so I can give an honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

If you are a fan of smart women you won't want to miss out on "The Physicists' Daughter." A story with vandalism, espionage with a couple of aliases thrown in the mix. Big shout out to Netgalley for ARC audiobook and the opportunity to review the novel. Happy I finished it before its release date.

I can honestly say I haven't read a lot of WWII books that were set in the United States, especially a factory, rather than where the actual fighting takes place. It gave the era a different feel for me.

This book was quite the wild ride! I wasn’t sure entirely what I was getting into when I started this, but I’ve been LOVING historical fiction lately so I had to request this from NetGalley and thanks to them I got to enjoy the audiobook version!

So much happens in this book. It starts pretty basic with the build up that’s typical in a historical fiction - following a young woman that’s currently doing “mans work” while the men are off fighting in the war. She’s actively working to make what they’re told are radios for the Allied troops during WWII, but she has her doubts about that. Naturally she digs around and uncovers some crazy stuff - and we’re along for the ride!

I enjoyed that this really felt like being there with the characters, the historical aspects also felt incredibly real. It’s a great historical fiction read.

4.5 stars
I listened to the audio version and really enjoyed it. The story is set during WWII at a factory in Louisiana that is developing materials for the war. The workers don't know what they are building, but Justine, the physicists' daughter, has a pretty good idea. And someone seems to be sabotaging their efforts. From there, the mystery ensues. This is a great premise for a story, and the author fulfilled my expectations by making the story interesting and realistic.
The main character was well-developed as were her relationships with friends and coworkers. I appreciated the scientific aspects of the story, which seemed well-researched. The mystery was intriguing with plenty of twists to keep the reader engaged. At the end, all of the elements of the plot came together seamlessly.
I enjoyed this take of WWII fiction. There has been a lot of WWII historical fiction lately, but this novel felt fresh and different.
I would read this author again.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an unbiased review.

This was lovely. There was a bit towards the beginning that I found to be slow and too on the nose but the ending was satisfying and overall, a good time. This is a 3.5 for me but rounding up to a 4.

THE PHYSICISTS’ DAUGHTER by Mary Anna Evans was an exciting read with all the right punches. I love the historical aspect of women working in manufactures while men are at the front. Women were underestimated and proved themselves to be as strong and clever as any men. That was the surprise of the time for a lot of people. The story is well constructed, and the characters were quite interesting. I loved the plot and the ending was open enough to let the reader think that it might not be the last time we will see Justine (wishful thinking on my part, anyway). This is a great mystery.

The narration was awesome and well delivered.

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook by Mary Anna Evans. I have read many historical fiction books set during WWII and found it refreshing to read one set in New Orleans during the war. The main character was well developed and likable and there is a mystery that kept me guessing. I found the narrator to be quite wonderful.
She was able to capture different characters' voices and keep the listener engaged. I plan to keep this author and narrator in mind in the future.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this audiobook.

This book took place during ww2 in New Orleans, Justine is working in a factory doing what she can to help the war effort when the factory is being destroyed by insiders she doesn’t know who she can turn to. This is a remarkable story about doing what you can in a world that is not accepting.