After reading this book, I was trying to decide who I would recommend it to. I came to the conclusion that people who enjoyed The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel or The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan would most likely want to check this one out. Although both of the aforementioned are non-fiction, and The Longest Night is fiction, I felt like the same vibes were there: men working on a government project that places them in an important position; their wives and families following them wherever they are stationed, staying home and worrying over them. Dedication. Love. Sacrifice.

This story is one that I can’t relate to at all, but I find it interesting. Nat Collier, the protagonist, gave me what I can only imagine is an accurate account of what it is like to be in love with your husband, but hate his profession; to be so lonely, that you don’t know what to do with yourself. I could totally understand how Nat was surrounded by women who were in the same position as her, and yet feel like she was all alone. A few of my favorite parts of this book were when Nat took things into her own hands and tried to remedy that loneliness. She packed up her girls into their car and drove to a neighboring town with a beach. I gave her a round of applause for those instances, when she stopped feeling sorry for herself and just did something about the situation she was in.

Lately it seems as though the feminist movement has been gaining all momentum. Women are doing more than ever before, but this book shows that even though we may not realize it today, the path we walk was paved early by women such as Nat Collier, way back in the 1950’s. If they could do it back then, we can do it now.

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Random House

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: 17 religious exclamations; 20 mild obscenities; 6 religious profanities; 4 derogatory names; 21 scatological words; 4 anatomical terms; 6 F-Word derivatives.

Violence/Gore:  A character almost passes out from an electric shock; a woman slaps a man; a woman is mentioned to be seen with her eyes punched in, dead; a character cuts their finger on a can and some blood is mentioned; a man hits his peer; a minor girl is missing; buildings are mentioned to explode and injured humans are seen laying on the ground; an injured man is bleeding in one brief scene; an injured man dies; a car crash is mentioned to occur; a minor girl almost drowns in a brief scene.

Sex/Nudity:  A woman is mentioned to “turn to men and drinking”; a husband and wife undress each other and lay outside, sex is implied; adults kiss multiple times; a woman implies a man is cheating; a man kisses a woman and lies next to her; a woman removes her nightgown for her husband; sexual innuendo and comments among men are made; a man fantasizes about his wife; a woman is mentioned to be only in her bra; a man makes love to his wife in one brief scene; an unmarried couple kisses; a pair of minors are found nude together, sexual activity is implied; a minor is mentioned to “not be chaste” a man has photos of bare chested women that are discovered.

Mature Subject Matter:

War, personal crises, death.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Minors drink; drugs are mentioned to be used to get high; an adult smokes; adults drink bourbon; a woman smokes.