Atomic Anna

Atomic Anna by Rachel Barenbaum follows three generations of women in their struggle to deal with the burdens of the previous generationi, as well as master time travel and prevent Chernobyl. Anna Berkova, the Soviet scientist who caused the devastation, is hurtled through time to discover her estranged American daughter Molly will die in 1992. Anna devotes her life to stabilizing time travel and saving her. Meanwhile, Molly grows up as a comic book artist in 1960s Philadelphia, retelling their family saga through superheroines. The era is explored through the popular culture as well as the clash between immigrant parents and American child. After she abandons her family, the comics are all that remain to share her legacy with her daughter.

Molly’s daughter Raisa is a mathematical genius, though growing up in the 80s under the same legacy. Many small details help set the scene and bring her world to life. Jewish practice is mostly not widespread for these Jewish Soviet women, but their heritage is mostly evident in their paranoia. Anna’s grandparents were killed in a pogrom, and she studies in Germany during the Nazi era. The constant fear of the community turning against her fills her life and continues through the next generations, who are raised by her Russian best friends. Further, each section is introduced with quotes from Pirkei Avot, emphasizing the Jewish background that has shaped the women.

The story is told nonsequentially, offering mysteries about breakups and milestones before they’re all eventually, satisfyingly solved. Each section starts with the date, which helps a lot. Readers will be reminded of Kavalier and Clay with a bit of The Hours, as superhero metaphors and flashbacks surround this Jewish family’s realistic immigration to America and desperation to find safety. Eventually, Molly tells Anna the truth: “You haven’t done the hard work, dug deeper. You’re still looking outside of yourself for answers, but the answers you need are inside. They’re buried. You need to look at the mistakes you made before us.” (372). Only by facing her abandonment by her own mother, who was taken by the Soviet police, can she heal and move forward. Each generation is making the same mistakes, but each generation holds part of the puzzle to help them heal.

The emphasis in the story is on trauma rather than science, but ethics also takes center stage. The women must wonder whether rewriting the past will save more lives than it destroys and what it will do to their family and their love for one another. They wonder about killing Hitler and whether saving their ancestors would stop them from meeting. Atomic and nuclear power have great potential as weapons, but so does time travel. The comic books help explore these issues as the heroines seek revenge and hurt innocents and then learn to back down. It’s a satisfying read for fans of intergenerational women’s fiction with a touch of fantasy.

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Valerie Estelle Frankel is the author of over 80 books on pop culture, including Hunting for Meaning in The Mandalorian; Inside the Captain Marvel Film; and Who Tells Your Story? History, Pop Culture, and Hidden Meanings in the Musical Phenomenon Hamilton. Her Chelm for the Holidays (2019) was a PJ Library book, and now she’s the editor of Jewish Science Fiction and Fantasy, publishing an academic series that begins with Jewish Science Fiction and Fantasy through 1945. Jews in Popular Science Fiction is the latest release. Outside academia, she published the popular overview, Discovering Jewish Science Fiction: A Look at the Jewish Influences in Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, DC, Marvel, and so Many More. Once a lecturer at San Jose State University, she now teaches at Mission College and San Jose City College and speaks often at conferences. Come explore her research at www.vefrankel.com