Rachel Beanland, the bestselling author of FLORENCE ADLER SWIMS FOREVER and THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE, whisks readers away to a sun-drenched Mediterranean island during the Atomic Age in her cleverly titled new novel, THE HALF LIFE.

Still grieving the death of her beloved brother in the Vietnam War, marriage is the furthest thing from 23-year-old Eileen O’Malley’s mind when she meets charismatic Paul Archer while working her shift at a department store. Unlike the men of Charleston, Paul is not just charming; he is funny and ambitious. She swoons at his go-getter attitude, his command of Italian, and his worldliness. 

Before long, Eileen has a ring on her finger and a plane ticket in her pocket. She is off to the Mediterranean, where Paul has been stationed as the head of radiological controls aboard a submarine tender. Though she is excited to reunite with her husband and see the coast of Italy, Eileen also harbors complicated feelings about her role as a naval wife, especially following her brother’s death and the hierarchy into which she is soon thrust.

Nicknamed “the rock,” La Maddalena, an island off the coast of Sardinia, is known for its rugged, difficult-to-traverse landscape and shimmering blue waters. But lately it also has been the site of numerous political upheavals, many of which have to do with the presence of the American Navy in Italian waters. Given her complex feelings about war, Eileen knows that adapting to life as an expat will be a challenge. But her anxieties are amplified when she meets her fellow Navy wives. Held to a strict hierarchy based on their husbands’ titles, the women adhere to a stringent moral code that dictates everything from seating arrangements to potlucks and even childbirth.

"Full of probing questions of complicity and autonomy, populated by richly rendered, complex characters, and with a summery, sun-drenched setting that reads like an action-packed vacation across the world, THE HALF LIFE is Rachel Beanland at her best."

As one of the younger and less experienced brides, Eileen quickly finds herself at odds with many of these ladies, particularly when she begins taking Italian lessons from a local political activist named Francesca. Her dealings with Francesca soon introduce her to her mentor’s charming nephew, Teo, a journalist who has come under fire for his reports on possible nuclear contamination in the water. It seems that the United States has not been entirely transparent about their submarines and the necessary testing they must do to prevent contaminating the sea coast’s waters. This has led to disturbing birth defects in newborns and other concerning effects, like the decimation of the area’s sealife, a source of food as well as ecological stability.

At the same time, Eileen begins to see a new side to her previously dashing husband. Where he was once fun-loving and sexy, lately he has started to control her in the same ways that she observes in the marriages of other Navy men and women. With this newfound authority comes Paul’s desire for a family --- not only to hear the pitter-patter of little feet, but to keep up with his comrades, who have begun to doubt Eileen’s patriotism. But unlike her peers, who are much more accustomed to Navy life and unwilling to question its idiosyncrasies, Eileen has been blossoming in the Italian countryside. She has taken to the language like a natural and adapted to the rich culture of the people, including Teo, for whom she cannot deny her attraction. 

Further complicating her stance on childbirth is the Navy’s hardline rule about it. Rather than bringing expectant Navy mothers to the local Italian hospital --- where babies have been delivered for hundreds of years --- they insist on transporting these women to Naples, where a Navy doctor oversees their pregnancies and labor. Eileen knows she has had trouble accepting the rules and regulations of the Navy, but this one seems extreme. What could a Navy doctor, a man who has spent his entire career practicing on men, know about childbirth that a local Italian doctor does not? Furthermore, as tensions between the Italians and Americans heat up, rumors of devastating birth defects turn into reality, amplifying the disconnect between American occupation and Italian autonomy.

While Eileen is the clear star of THE HALF LIFE, it is worth noting that Paul also is an incredibly dynamic, layered character. Although his role in the devastation of La Maddalena is unforgivable, Beanland is able to carefully unpack and assess his character in ways that don’t adhere to simple archetyping. But even her tender handling of Paul is no match for the rising tensions of La Maddalena. As Communism takes hold of the city’s people, the Navy continues to experience flub after flub, and a series of violent protests puts Eileen --- and the delicate bonds she has formed with locals --- at risk. With the city turned into a massive pressure cooker of political intrigue, nuclear contamination, and the tensions of love and sex, she is forced to choose between complicity and action, loyalty and justice, her homeland and the land that has become home.

Eileen is a spectacularly developed and distinctly unique character whose reckonings with American exceptionalism and her own coming of age are inextricably tied. Add to this the little-known history of American submarines in the Atomic Age, and you have a true masterwork. The book successfully balances big themes, deep histories and characters who feel alive without ever weighing down its plot or pacing. This is especially impressive given Beanland’s meticulous research into both United States Navy history and the particular chemical breakdowns of contaminants. Though she offers a thorough education on both, she is able to seamlessly weave her lessons into the main plot. This allows readers to learn and explore with Eileen, even when she struggles to form connections that a modern-day audience may easily (and anxiously) see coming a mile away. 

Full of probing questions of complicity and autonomy, populated by richly rendered, complex characters, and with a summery, sun-drenched setting that reads like an action-packed vacation across the world, THE HALF LIFE is Rachel Beanland at her best.