Atomic Hearts

Cummins’s impressive debut novel (after the collection If the Body Allows It) follows two lifelong friends who bonded while struggling with their torn-apart families. Gertie and Cindy, both 31, grew up in Michigan, where they both carried the secret of their fathers’ opioid addictions. As Cummins reveals in flashbacks, 16-year-old Gertie also keeps a secret from Cindy: that she slept with Cindy’s boyfriend at a party. Gertie’s plan to confess to Cindy later that year is cut short when Gertie causes an accident with a bonfire. As punishment, Gertie’s mom makes her spend the summer with her newly rehabilitated father in Sioux Falls. When she discovers her father is still using, she escapes from the pain by writing a fantasy book. In chapters set during the present day, Gertie attempts to write a novel about that summer, and when Cindy suggests Gertie use her apartment as a retreat while she’s away, Gertie’s time there adds another dimension to her already intriguing reflections on the past (“People tend to choose: I became who I am despite the past or because of it, which aggravates me since it is so clearly both”). This works equally well as a gritty coming-of-age drama and an insightful story about the nature of writing. Agent: Danielle Bukowski, Sterling Lord Literistic. (Aug.)