This was a very interesting book. I’m a huge fan of WWII era historical fiction, but have typically gravitated toward European based novels. This, being about Project Manhattan, was very different than usual. I was very excited and intrigued.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. Being about an aspect of WWII that usually isn’t the subject but a mention was interesting. And yet, it still really wasn’t about the atomic bomb. More it was about the life those related to the scientists faced. I really wish there had been a few chapters about working in the bomb, but I still enjoyed the story for what it was.

I felt there were a few storylines that felt unfinished. The last chapter offered some good endings, but not quite all that I wanted. Even throughout the book there were events happening and then they just stopped happening. Never to be seen again. I wish there had been better bows tying up these stories.

I still highly enjoyed reading this book.

Rating: 3.5/5

Recommend? Yes

With an interesting array of characters, this book puts you into the world of Oppenheimer (Oppy in the book) and the scientists, their families and the effects of the secretive work on developing atomic bombs in 1943 New Mexico. Well written and researched.

Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the digital copy of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I’ve read several books on the events going on at Los Alamos during WWII, and I was looking forward to a fictional depiction of the events surrounding the creation of the atomic bomb. For the most part, this book works as a historical women’s fiction: there’s plenty of angst, forbidden romance, secrecy, and complex relationships.

The story follows several characters with alternating chapters. There were some characters that were more interesting than others, and I found myself skimming the less interesting ones until the story picked up. Christine was my favorite character, as she seemed to be the most fully fleshed out. Her love of her husband, who has to keep secrets about his job, which drives a wedge between them, and her eventual affair with his boss showed how secrets and lies in a relationship can erode the best of them. Christine’s interest in working while at Los Alamos, more specifically, with Maria, the pottery artist, added to the story.

I’m no prude, but I did find some of the sex scenes unnecessary, and overall, this book felt more like a soap opera than historical fiction. There was constant drama with the cast of characters. That’s not saying that’s bad, if that’s your thing. There’s lots of discussions skirting around the subject of “the gadget,” and the research that went into the Manhattan Project really shows. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys women’s fiction, more specifically, WWII romance, more than I would for those looking for more Oppenheimer.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The premise of the book drew me in but once I started reading it, I just couldn’t get into it at all.
I wish the author, publisher and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.

Hill of Secrets by Galina Vromen was a very intriguing historical fiction novel.
A thought-provoking story that left me wanting more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

I was lucky enough to be approved for an e-arc and an alc.

I thought this book was a decent historical thriller. I enjoyed learning about what happened in Roswell, before it became infamous for the fictional tv show. I must say that while I enjoyed Lisa Flanagan's narration, I almost wish there could have been a different narrator for each character. It was kind of confusing to have Lisa narrate the different character's chapters. I also thought that the first part of the book was a little slow but it then picked up in the middle.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves Fiona Davis or Marie Benedict.

Many thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book.

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“Hill of Secrets” by Galina Vromen is a historical novel that centers around the lives of the people supporting the top-secret work being carried out at Los Alamos, New Mexico during World War II. Christine (who gave up her promising career as a chemist to follow her husband’s career) meets other people who are just as baffled as she is as to what is actually going on behind. No one can talk about “the gadget” that all the scientists are working together to create. And not only are there secrets related to the job, but personal ones as well. Some can be just as devastating to their personal lives as the “gadget” turns out to be in real life.

This is a well-written novel that draws attention to behind-the-scenes of the creation of the atomic bomb that devastated two cities, killed thousands of people instantly, and ruined the health of others for decades to come. As a person who has been to Hiroshima multiple times and to Nagasaki once, I read this informative piece of fiction with horror and sadness. And I interpreted the stress of the men involved in this project as fear. Fear for what their genius was about to release into the world. When one of the characters is in an accident in the research site, I felt the portrayal of the suffering of one could help inform others of the suffering of any others who actually experienced the aftermath of the bomb and to make us afraid of what could happen in the future.

Many thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel. My opinions are my own.

A promising debut that felt like a very classic historical fiction novel!

The book follows a cast of characters living and working in Los Alamos. Everyone was brought together with the common goal of helping to end the war, but in some cases that’s where the commonalities end. Each of the main characters felt complex and while I might have done what they did, I couldn’t find myself faulting them for it. Christine, Gertie, and Jimmy each make for a compelling POV. In particular, I enjoyed Gertie and her parent’s story. Having fled Germany aged 10, Gertie is now a teenager eager to see what the future holds for her while her parents are more knowledgeable about what’s at stake in Europe. It’s a beautiful and heartbreaking story with themes of new and old world, immigrant parents and first gen children, and learning to live with the choices we make.

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this ARC!

A historical fiction about a transcendental moment in history such as the creation of the atomic bomb, and as just seen in Openheimer's film.
This story has had great research and a motley cast of characters that gives great development and unexpected actions.

Thank you Netgalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

With the abundance of WWII fiction, "Hill of Secrets" is a refreshing change of scenery to Los Alamos and the hidden development of the atomic bomb. Various lives intertwine in intense and bittersweet ways. We meet Christine who yearns for motherhood, yet a meaningful career meaningful. Sarah, mourning her family in Europe, Kurt and Thomas deep in their covert work and the blooming relationship between young Gertie and Jimmy. Many secrets come to life, yet some must be hidden possibly to never be revealed. The author leaves the book ending slightly open, so I'm hoping for a sequel of some sort.

**Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.**

Thank you NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

The first half of the book was a little slow paced, but after that I was hooked. I’ve read and seen stories before about the development of the atomic bomb, but never from the perspective of those on the edge of this historic event, and how much they could have been affected by everything happening back then, which was so interesting for me. That is why I would have enjoyed it much more if the author spent more time at the end exploring the emotional and psychological consequences in each character.
I also value the fact that every character had their flaws, even big ones, because I’m usually more draw to complex and imperfect characters that feel like actual human beings, specially in historical fiction. I honestly teared up a little bit on several moments throughout the story.
Overall this book had a really interesting concept and idea, but sometimes felt a little flat. It didn’t blow my mind the way I expected it to.

PS. I love this cover so much!

I really enjoyed the engaging and thought-provoking plot of this book. I don't usually read historical fiction, but this book did a great job of portraying daily life during WWII and incorporating fiction into it. The writing brought the setting to life.
Also, the author's note at the end piqued my curiosity further!
Goes to show how much one can learn from historical fiction as well!

My thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an ARC of this book.

The making of the atomic bomb put the desert outpost of Los Alamos firmly on the map, so much so that popular culture has made it impossible to think of as other than the birthplace of the Bomb, singular and capitalized. In the years since the Cold War’s loosening, much of the factual detail regarding what happened in that isolated place, as well as its major actors, have become known. Few could fail to recognize the name of J. Robert ‘Oppie’ Oppenheimer, the project’s leading figure, and a few others of his largely male crew, especially in view of the recent award-winning biopic about him.

Oppie plays a somewhat ‘off screen’ role in this story, which places the female back-up players in the spotlight. And they literally did back up the men who worked on ‘the gadget’ as they called it, so fearful were they of the slightest leak of information. Not even their closest family members were to have any clue as to what the Manhattan Project was about. Yet these women, wives, daughters, auxiliary members of the armed forces, inhabited the ‘camp’ alongside their husbands, fathers and employers. They were the invisible yet essential support staff who carried out, as women always have, the domestic and social activities without which the urgent, high-stress, low-comfort conditions of an increasingly vital strategic, top-security, Allied project would likely have decimated the male team working day and night on it. Women, enlisted or not, did their bit for the war effort by taking care of men and households.

There is much that is impressive in this readable, well written and well researched work of historical fiction. Both in details about what life must have been like inside and close by the desert camp, Galina Vromen has done her work. The ‘real’ characters, like Oppie and the Italian mathematician Ernesto Fermi come to life, both in their drive to build the Bomb and their belief that it was the key to ending the war. The significant number of Jewish refugee scientists at Los Alamos are characterized in the composite character of Kurt Koppel, for whom the gadget’s potential for mass destruction poses an intense moral quandary.

As noted, the novel really shines in the author’s reimagining of the lives of the mostly forgotten women in the background. She focuses on three in particular. Christine is a highly educated young woman who gives up her own doctorate and fledgling career for a precipitous move to Los Alamos with her chemist husband Thomas. Then there is Gertie, sixteen year old daughter of Kurt and Sarah Koppel. The Koppels are Jewish refugees who fled Germany in 1933, leaving behind, in ever worsening conditions, much of their extended families. By the time the story begins in 1943, they are largely Americanized, especially Gertie who left as a young child. Gertie is highly intelligent, very curious about her father’s job, and aware of the Jewish overseas, for all that the news is censored and her parents try to protect her from it. She is neither naive nor superficial but she is a teenager and longs to fit in with her American peers. How she relates to her new high school crowd, and especially to Jimmy, a young university student who works with her father and with whom she is willingly drawn into a flirtation, is central to her story.

Sarah, like Gertie, flails against the restrictions of their current life. She was really just starting to acclimatize to the life of a transplanted upper middle class Jewish wife and mother in America, finding so much of it very different from its European version. She tries hard to perfect her English and her comprehension of American ways, especially outside of the Jewish community. Yet she is never at ease, especially not in the camp where she feels constantly under surveillance and subjected to judgment. She is lonely as her daughter and husband spend most of their days away from her, always busy, with people she doesn’t know. She can’t find enough to distract her from her insecurities and the constant worry about her family and friends overseas. She suffers from survivors’ guilt and depression, sleeping long hours to escape. The Koppels’ grow apart as they can no longer seem to face their truths together.

The most vivid of the female characters is Christine. She is torn between being the loyal wife and war supporter, eager to contribute to running a ‘good home’ and to home front activities, and being her own person. She is bored, actively seeking intellectual stimulation and creative outlets, and, like Gertie, infinitely curious about the project. Thomas’s secrecy, his long work hours, constant exhaustion, and overall irritability leave her feeling misunderstood and disrespected as the tension in their marriage grows.

Much of the women’s story is about how they interact and relate to each other. This is especially well done for Christine and Gertie, who become fast friends despite their differences in age and educational achievement. They genuinely enjoy each other, learn from each other, and encourage each other. It’s refreshing to see Gertie hold her own, helping to shape her older friend rather than simply deferring to her. Neither is a paragon, which makes them instantly relatable.

Sarah remains the most shadowy of them. This is partly due to her quiet, diffident personality that leads her to eschew the spotlight. Her growing depression and disorientation are also a large part of it. But I kept feeling that much of what is revealed about her is shown through her husband and daughter, who are much more attuned to each other, unwittingly cutting her out of the one bond that she has left. I would have liked to see more of Sarah outside the context of family, immediate and otherwise.

This is both enlightening and entertaining as a fictional version of the Los Alamos story. Definitely the women who were there deserve much more attention and appreciation than they have to date received. This debut by Galina Vromen is an excellent start.

This was an intriguing novel, and caught my attention from the first page. I really enjoyed reading about a different part of WWII than is normally featured in historical fiction, and the characters were diverse and interesting. There were, however, a couple things that kept this from being a five-star read for me.
The biggest thing was I thought it was a little strange that this novel takes place at Los Alamos, yet we get virtually no insight into what it was actually like to work there, nor do we get any perspective into what the scientists went through to create the atomic bomb. All the scenes took place outside the lab, and only off-hand remarks or flashbacks were given to hint as to what went on inside the lab.
My favorite thing about this novel was the way it depicted the mental and physical tax the building of the atomic bomb took on the scientists. This was especially well done at the end of the novel, after the bomb was set off. Overall, I thought the author did a nice job at depicting this part of history and thought this was a worthwhile read.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing for the ARC on NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Set in Los Alamos in 1943, this historical fiction novel follows the lives of Christine, Kurt, Gertie and Kurt and the toll they face as they keep secrets from their families and the rest of the world. Gathered by the US Army to build the world's first nuclear bomb.

If you are a WWII fiction fan you will enjoy this novel. Mixing a lot of historical facts and fictional events. I enjoyed this novel.

A great historical novel which gives an insight into life in Los Alamos and impact of living life under extreme secrecy while the atomic bomb was developed. The development of each character allows you to see how they question and adapt to the conditions they are living in. The end of the book hinted at how each viewed the enormity of what they were part of but never developed this further. Despite this I found it a really good read, providing a different insight into a well-trodden topic.

A deep and sad, but triumphant story of two families trying to live with the war and secrets around Los Alamos at the heart of the Manhattan Project.

I was excited about this book when I saw it. I thought it would be intriguing to learn more about this piece of history, especially after having watched the recent movie Oppenheimer. In the end I did not enjoy the amount of emotional drama that I felt like the book was more about.
The first third of the book was slow setting up the characters and location, but then the rest of the book just felt to me like sexual and emotional drama. One young adult character discovered his desires were homosexual instead of for the girl that was falling in love with him. Another couple was having an extramarital affair and even said that their emotional attachment was good for their individual marriages before mostly breaking it off. Then another character struggled with depression and even attempted suicide. Someone asked for assisted euthanasia. Then the book ended with the knowledge that the affair had resulted in a baby despite them determining to remain with their respective spouses.
Honestly, I probably would not have finished the book had I not been given the opportunity to read this as an advanced copy and I wanted to write an honest review of my opinion on the book.

"Hill of Secrets" by Galina Vromen is set in Los Alamos, New Mexico during World War II, where scientists are working on the top-secret Manhattan Project to create the atomic bomb. The novel follows several characters, including Christine, a woman who sacrifices her art restoration business to be with her husband, a scientist; Gertie, a curious and mature 16-year-old daughter of a German Jewish refugee physicist; Jimmy, a young army technician who falls for Gertie; and Kurt and Sarah, Gertie's parents, who are haunted by their past.
I was impressed by the author's ability to craft complex, flawed characters that are relatable and realistic. Christine's struggles to cope with her husband's increasing aloofness and her feelings of inadequacy were particularly well-portrayed. Gertie's teenage angst and curiosity were spot on, and I loved watching her grow and develop throughout the story.
The novel is not just about the characters, though - it's also about the secrets they keep and the consequences of those secrets. The setting is richly detailed, and I loved learning about the daily lives of the scientists and their families as they worked on the project.
The writing is excellent, with a smooth narrative that keeps you engaged. The characters' emotions are palpable, and the author does an amazing job of conveying the sense of urgency and dread that pervades the story.
Overall, "Hill of Secrets" is for anyone who loves historical fiction or is interested in World War II history. It's a gripping and emotional read that keeps you turning the pages until the end.

What happens when varied people, all with their own personal troubles, converge in an unfamiliar location for a hidden purpose, especially when the government imposes a code of silence? In Vromen’s twisty, infectiously readable debut, secrets are simmering within Los Alamos, New Mexico, in 1943, and the Manhattan Project’s development is just one of them. An art restorer with a chemistry background, Christine Sharp is a trailing spouse who feels sidelined and neglected after relocating to support her PhD scientist husband. Seeking distraction, she befriends 16-year-old ingénue Gertie Koppel, the daughter of German Jewish refugees. While Gertie’s physicist father Kurt loyally serves America in Los Alamos’ Tech Area, his wife Sarah, a movingly three-dimensional character, ruminates on difficult memories. With young love, a clandestine affair, intense guilt, and suppressed yearnings circulating in this high-pressure environment, the story line is highly dramatic, and some aspects are far-fetched. Still, the novel offers more than soap-opera fare for Oppenheimer fans. By the sobering conclusion, readers will be left pondering the characters’ ethical dilemmas, which defy easy answers. (Reviewed for Booklist, 6/15/24)