Atomic Family

Not everything is perfect in the Porter household in Clemson, SC. It’s 1961, and Dean, a ground soil scientist, is increasingly worried about environmental mistakes at his workplace—a nuclear plant. His wife, Nellie, never a passive mother or housewife, joins a local women’s group in protesting against nuclear war, but she still feels incomplete. Their intelligent and obsessive 10-year-old son Wilson absorbs the brunt of his parents’ inattentiveness—hiding in their backyard bomb shelter and preparing for the nuclear apocalypse. McElroy’s debut is a tightly written family drama that builds tension until the Porters’ neuroses and inadequacies terminate in a shocking conclusion. Chapters are written from the point of view of each of the three family members, with Roman Howell smoothly narrating both Dean and his son Wilson. Narrator Megan Tusing voices Nellie’s chapters satisfactorily, although listeners may need to keep the volume button readily available because of the frequent changes in volume.