Book Summary and Reviews of Hannah's War by Jan Eliasberg

Book Summary

A "mesmerizing" re-imagination of the final months of World War II (Kate Quinn, author of The Alice Network), Hannah's War is an unforgettable love story about an exceptional woman and the dangerous power of her greatest discovery.

Berlin, 1938. Groundbreaking physicist Dr. Hannah Weiss is on the verge of the greatest discovery of the 20th century: splitting the atom. She understands that the energy released by her discovery can power entire cities or destroy them. Hannah believes the weapon's creation will secure an end to future wars, but as a Jewish woman living under the harsh rule of the Third Reich, her research is belittled, overlooked, and eventually stolen by her German colleagues. Faced with an impossible choice, Hannah must decide what she is willing to sacrifice in pursuit of science's greatest achievement.

New Mexico, 1945. Returning wounded and battered from the liberation of Paris, Major Jack Delaney arrives in the New Mexican desert with a mission: to catch a spy. Someone in the top-secret nuclear lab at Los Alamos has been leaking encoded equations to Hitler's scientists. Chief among Jack's suspects is the brilliant and mysterious Hannah Weiss, an exiled physicist lending her talent to J. Robert Oppenheimer's mission. All signs point to Hannah as the traitor, but over three days of interrogation that separate her lies from the truth, Jack will realize they have more in common than either one bargained for.

Hannah's War is a thrilling wartime story of loyalty, truth, and the unforeseeable fallout of a single choice.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. Jan Eliasberg has worked for years as a screenwriter and film director. How do you think her experience in film has influenced Hannah's War? Were there particular scenes or locations you were able to visualize distinctly? Who would you cast as Hannah, Stefan, and Jack?
2. Jack Delaney hides his identity for much of the novel. Although he is American, he is concerned that his religious background will negatively affect his career prospects. His colleague Aaron Epstein is open about his Jewish faith. How is Epstein treated differently? How do you think American attitudes toward Judaism have changed since 1940? Are there identities or opinions that you hide in your daily life? What compels you to withhold personal information?
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