One Degree of Freedom

Fifteen-year-old Adriana Nicu lives in the sheltered world of Bucharest, Romania, in the year 1987. Under the rule of Communist president Nicolae Ceaușescu, citizens of Bucharest live with the eyes and ears of the government ever present. Adriana’s future, which will involve becoming an engineer, is locked in against her will.

During a visit to her aunt’s apartment, Adriana walks through a wardrobe into a hidden room filled with stacks of forbidden novels. Stories bring light into the darkest of circumstances as her family begins to unravel and her life strangely parallels those of her novels’ heroines. Adriana’s childhood loyalties and her belief that God doesn’t exist are called into question as her circumstances force her to rethink things she once believed were certain.

Taryn R. Hutchison always knew she wanted to write historical fiction, but she put that on hold to pursue other things she loved. After traveling the world, her childhood dream of becoming a writer began to beckon. She wrote a memoir, We Wait You, about her ten years living in Eastern Europe, and it was translated into Romanian. This is her debut novel.