The Sound of a Thousand Stars - by Rachel Robbins (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Alice Katz is a young Jewish physicist, one of the only female doctoral students at her university, studying with the famed Dr. Oppenheimer. Her well-to-do family wants her to marry a man of her class and settle down. Instead, Alice answers her country's call to come to an unnamed city in the desert to work on a government project shrouded in secrecy. At Los Alamos, Alice meets Caleb Blum, a poor Orthodox Jew who has been assigned to the explosives division. Around them are other young scientists and engineers who have quietly left their university posts to come live in the desert. No one seems to know exactly what they are working on--what they do know is that it is a race and that they must beat the Nazis in developing an unspeakable weapon. In this atmosphere of fear and uncertainty, and despite their many differences, Alice and Caleb find themselves drawn to one another."--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

Oppenheimer meets Hidden Figures in this sweeping historical debut where two Jewish physicists form an inseverable bond amidst fear and uncertainty.

Sure to captivate readers of Kate Quinn and Bonnie Garmus, The Sound of a Thousand Stars eerily mirrors modern-day questions of wartime ethics and explores what it means to survive--at any cost.

Alice Katz is a young Jewish physicist, one of the only female doctoral students at her university, studying with the famed Dr. Oppenheimer. Her well-to-do family wants her to marry a man of her class and settle down. Instead, Alice answers her country's call to come to an unnamed city in the desert to work on a government project shrouded in secrecy.

At Los Alamos, Alice meets Caleb Blum, a poor Orthodox Jew who has been assigned to the explosives division. Around them are other young scientists and engineers who have quietly left their university posts to come live in the desert.

No one seems to know exactly what they are working on--what they do know is that it is a race and that they must beat the Nazis in developing an unspeakable weapon. In this atmosphere of fear and uncertainty, and despite their many differences, Alice and Caleb find themselves drawn to one another.

Inspired by the author's grandparents and sure to appeal to fans of Good Night, Irene, The Sound of a Thousand Stars is a propulsive novel about love in desperate times, the consequences of our decisions, and the roles we play in history.

Review Quotes

Praise for The Sound of a Thousand Stars
"Robbins explores ambition, love, and nuclear destruction in her introspective latest . . . Readers will be riveted."
--Publishers Weekly

"In writing this powerful, tragic, history-defining story, she does something truly amazing--she makes it sing."
--Chicago Review of Books

"A powerful, moving story . . . Realistic and satisfying."
--The Reporter Group

"[The Sound of a Thousand Stars] deftly combines its young-geniuses-in-love storyline with an intelligent consideration of a great moral dilemma."
--Datebook, San Francisco Chronicle

"Grounded in meticulous research and rendered with lyrical language."
--Rain Taxi Review of Books

"A well-writ­ten, engag­ing sto­ry about human­i­ty and evil."
--Jewish Book Council

"Realistically evokes the constant worry and guilt felt by those on the home front during wartime."
--Historical Novel Society

"Because The Sound of a Thousand Stars is a novel of Los Alamos and its consequences, Niels Bohr is here, and Richard Feynman, and of course Robert Oppenheimer, to name a few. But even more gripping than her vivid depiction of these titans of physics is Rachel Robbins's rendering of Alice and Caleb, two bright young protagonists whose riveting story shows that love and destiny are forces just as powerful as faith or science."
--Kathleen Rooney, author of From Dust to Stardust

"This novel delivers a keenly intimate, precise account of a watershed moment in our world history. Not only is The Sound of a Thousand Stars a great achievement of historical depth, it proves how selfless and vital love becomes when we find ourselves at the end of the world. Robbins has given us an elegy that rings clear, strong, and true."
--Amy Jo Burns, author of Mercury

"Declassifies the human emotions at the core of one of the 20th century's most fraught scientific projects . . . This beautifully written novel considers the costs of scientific advancement, the value of an individual life, and the thrilling knife's edge of being in love. A feat of a book."
--Julia Fine, author of The Upstairs House

"In her marvelous debut, Rachel Robbins weaves an intimate and stirring story of love, sacrifice, and duty against the backdrop of one of humanity's most consequential undertakings . . . Meticulously researched and beautifully rendered, The Sound of a Thousand Stars reminds us that the greatest mysteries are those of the human heart. This book will leave you breathless."
--Soon Wiley, author of When We Fell Apart

"In her luminous debut novel, Robbins reminds us that history is written by people whose names we rarely remember--people who toil away in obscurity, carving out lives of wonder despite the odds and the dangers they face . . . A soaring testament to all those unseen souls who answered history's call and selflessly sacrificed in order to shape the world in which we live."
--Giano Cromley, author of The Last Good Halloween

About the Author

Rachel Robbins received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is a tenured assistant professor at Malcolm X College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago. A visual artist and two-time Pushcart Prize-nominated writer, her paintings have materialized on public transit, children's daycare centers, and Chicago's Magnificent Mile. She lives in Chicago with her husband, children, and Portuguese Water Dog. The Sound of a Thousand Stars is loosely based on her grandparents, who worked at Los Alamos but never spoke of their time there.