THE SECRET - Softcover

"Inquiring and intelligent . . . The Secret is a meditation on that central puzzle of human life, the puzzle of identity."
--The Washington Post

"An intelligent and delightfully bizarre excursion into ethical and philosophical issues raised by technology."
--Elle

"THE COMPELLING STORY OF AN INDIVIDUAL GIRL TRYING TO FIND OUT THE TRUTH ABOUT HERSELF."
--The Independent

"Hoffman's consistent sensitivity is informed by her wide erudition. . . . The Secret is compelling throughout for Hoffman's prose, for her insights on identity, for her reflections on history."
--The New York Times Book Review

"Hoffman brilliantly meditates on [a] mystery in her auspicious fiction debut. . . . This is a novel of ideas in the tradition of 1984 and Brave New World."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Hoffman's . . . multilayered, cautionary 'fable' of genetic engineering in the near future proves compelling, in both its cool intelligence and its insistent moral questioning. . . . The Secret is intriguing and deeply sinister, even as it ultimately affirms those mysteries of life and human freedom that still elude us."
--The Guardian

"VERY MUCH RECOMMENDED . . .[A] thoughtful, philosophical treatment of the devastating effects a wholly fatherless state can trigger. An uneasy look at the potential fallout from biological tampering, this first novel . . . is ripe for lively book discussion."
--Library Journal

"A serious, intelligent, psychological novel which will enhance Hoffman's reputation for wise words gracefully expressed."
--Financial Times

"Hoffman sketches a creepily plausible near-future in which her protagonist experiences a very 21st-century identity crisis."
--Kirkus Reviews

"A modern allegory somewhere between Frankenstein, the golems of Jewish folklore, and Blade Runner."
--Independent on Sunday

Seventeen-year-old Iris Surrey, increasingly troubled by her unusually close relationship with her look-alike mother, sets out in 2022 Chicago to learn the identity of her father, and along the way, the secret of her own origin. Reprint.