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Chargement... A Fierce Radiancepar Lauren Belfer
   Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre.   ) leebill | Apr 30, 2020 |  This was an intriguing story of how penicillin was developed in the early 1940s, the difficulties in producing it, and the trials performed on sick people and later on sick and wounded soldiers. Amid this was an evolving romance between Claire, working at Life magazine, and Dr. Jamie Stanton, overseeing penicillin trials. WWII was a constant throughout whether Claire was worried about New York City being bombed or Jamie was assigned to work overseas on penicillin trials on soldiers. The big business of pharmaceutical companies getting involved in penicillin and similar drugs was also an important part of the story, along with the US government’s involvement. Throw in a murder or two and a few spys and there was never a dull moment. There was a lot going on in this story but it was easy to follow and kept me turning pages to the end. (  ) gaylebutz | Jul 19, 2019 | Well this sounded much more interesting than it wound up being. I definitely enjoyed some aspects of the novel. I like reading medical histories, and the race to develop a procedure to mass produce penicillin was an important effort in World War II. Like many of the characters in the book, my family suffered the death of a loved one due to infection; my grandfather died of peritonitis resulting from a burst appendix. Penicillin and antibiotics that were developed later spared many such deaths. If Belfer had stayed focused on that exciting story I think I would have greatly enjoyed the book. But, Belfer included a romantic subplot between Claire and a lead scientist, Dr James Stanton (aka Jamie), as well as broken family ties, a murder, corporate espionage, Russian spies and unethical treatment of the Japanese families interred at various camps. There is just too much going on between the covers of this book for Belfer to give us a cohesive story, and I never got caught up in the novel. (  ) BookConcierge | Mar 17, 2017 | ) LauGal | Aug 16, 2016 | Historical fiction weaving a story of military history, medical advancement espionage and love set in the later days of WWII As a photographer for LIFEmagazine Claire Shipley is sent to cover a story on the hard to produce, still experimental drug penicillin. The story is killed and the government chooses Claire to follow the penicillin trail. She is sent to keep" an eye on the big pharmaceutical companies who are supposed to be mass-producing patent-free penicillin for use on the battlefield but are really working on the much more profitable cousin drugs. ..." It is eyeopening to walk through a time frame when a simple scratch on the knee can lead to death. 4.5 favorite hardcover 530 pgWWII ear novel set in New York City Historical fiction weaving a story of military history, medical advancement espionage and love set in the later days of WWII As a photographer for LIFEmagazine Claire Shipley is sent to cover a story on the hard to produce, still experimental drug penicillin. The story is killed and the government chooses Claire to follow the penicillin trail. She is sent to keep" an eye on the big pharmaceutical companies who are supposed to be mass-producing patent-free penicillin for use on the battlefield but are really working on the much more profitable cousin drugs. ..." It is eyeopening to walk through a time frame when a simple scratch on the knee can lead to death. 4.5 favorite hardcover 530 pg ( ) pennsylady | Jan 22, 2016 |
 Like the doctors, scientists, detectives, soldiers, captains of industry, glamorous photographers and hot-blooded lovers who swirl through Lauren Belfer's World War II novel, 'A Fierce Radiance,' book critics have their own system of early warning signs. In deciding whether a book is worth their while, let alone their readers', many have been known to practice the first-sentence test--the more charitable among them, the first-page, the first-chapter, or the pick-a-page-at-random test. That is: if such samples from a new book under review don't past muster, it's fair to say that the work as a whole deserves only a passing grade, or worse. 'With A Fierce Radiance,' which follows her best-selling debut novel 'City of Light,' Belfer poses an exasperating challenge for such checks. The first sentence--"Claire Shipley was no doctor, but even she could see the man on the stretcher was dying"--is pretty grabby. Further down the page, you get Claire, a photographer for Life magazine, noticing, "His eyes were open but unfocused, like the glass eyes in a box at a doll factory she'd once photographed." A tad stiff, that one, but evocative. Turn the page, though, and there's stuff like "Her thick hair fell in waves to her shoulders," or Claire experiencing "a piercing ache." Soon enough, "Bravado was a trait Claire put on each morning with her silk blouse and tailored trousers." These promptly go easy on the eyes of a handsome doctor, James Stanton, who is "about six feet tall, lean, with brown hair brushed back," and before you can say True Romance, "His close physical presence stirred her." The full experience of the novel is a kind of whiplash--historical nuggets mixed with cliches, portraits of such real people as Henry Luce handicapped by icky dialogue, tense passions encountering predictable plot twists, and the incessant use of words like "upon" rearing its cumbersomeness when a simple "on" would do (sex scenes included). Belfer has profuse research on her side, and against her the tincture of 1940s popular fiction. Still, who can't be grateful for a long, interesting, if over-full, historical novel that isn't about vampires? . . . Prix et récompensesDistinctions
In the anxious days after Pearl Harbor, talented "Life" magazine reporter Clara Shipley finds herself on top of one of the nation's most important stories--the race to discover penicillin at the Rockefeller Institute. When a researcher at the institute dies under suspicious circumstances, the stakes become starkly clear: a murder has been committed to obtain these lucrative new drugs. With lives and a new love hanging in the balance, Claire will put herself at the center of danger to find a killer--no matter what price she may have to pay. Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
Discussion en coursAucunCouvertures populaires
 Google Books — Chargement...GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999Classification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne: (3.63)
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