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In a desert outpost, nuclear scientists and their families face the toll of the secrets they keep from the world and from each other in this gripping wartime novel from debut author Galina Vromen.
Los Alamos, 1943. The US Army has gathered scientists to create the world's first nuclear weapon. Their families, abruptly moved to the secret desert base with no explanation, have simple orders: Stand by. Make do. Above all, don't ask questions.
Christine, forced to abandon her art restoration business in New York for her husband's career, struggles to reinvent herself and cope with his increasing aloofness.
Gertie, the inquisitive teenage daughter of a German Jewish refugee physicist enlists Christine to help her unravel hidden truths and deal with parents haunted by their past.
Gertie's father, Kurt, anguished by what the Nazis have done to his family and bent on defeating them, carries burdens he longs to share but cannot confide in his wife―leading him to find comfort elsewhere.
And Jimmy, a young army technician, falls for Gertie but is unsure if even her deep affection can overcome his agonizing self-doubts.
Will so much secrecy save them or destroy them?
"In Vromen's twisty, infectiously readable debut, secrets are simmering within Los Alamos…With young love, a clandestine affair, intense guilt, and suppressed yearnings circulating in this high-pressure environment." ―Booklist
"Hill of Secrets is one of the best novels I have read in ages. Couldn't put it down. Galina Vromen's fully drawn characters and intimate storytelling reveals the complexities of life for those at Los Alamos who knew the big atomic bomb secret and those who couldn't be told―but it also explores the complicated web of secrets we all spin and hold as we navigate our way through life." ―The Washington Post
"A powerhouse of a novel, not to be missed! This compelling, thought-provoking story deftly dives into the emotional complexity of the Manhattan Project, particularly for the women behind-the-scenes. The setting, Los Alamos during the development of the bomb, serves as a prism to expose the many consequences of secrecy during this singular moment in history. Hill of Secrets has it all: drama and romance, conflict and pain, compromise and loss and, through it all, hope. I highly recommend this original and haunting book." ―Samantha Greene Woodruff, bestselling author of The Lobotomist's Wife and The Trade-Off
"A fantastic historical novel about a rarely written about time in history, featuring an endearing cast of characters. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, it stayed with me long after I turned the final page." ―Soraya Lane, bestselling author of The Secret Midwife
This information about Hill of Secrets was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Galina Vromen began writing fiction after more than twenty years as an international journalist in Israel, England, the Netherlands, France, and Mexico. After a career with Reuters News Agency, she moved to the nonprofit sector as a director at the Harold Grinspoon Foundation.
Vromen launched and directed two reading readiness programs in Israel, one in Hebrew (Sifriyat Pijama) and one in Arabic (Maktabat al-Fanoos). During her tenure, the two programs gifted twenty million books to young children and their families and were named US Library of Congress honorees for best practices in promoting literacy.
Vromen's stories have been performed on NPR's Selected Shorts program and appeared in magazines such as American Way, the Adirondack Review, Tikkun, and Reform Judaism. She has an MA in literature from Bar-Ilan University in Israel and a BA in media and anthropology from Hampshire College in Massachusetts.
Vromen and her husband divide their time between Israel and Massachusetts.
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