Gene jogged down the hallway in his stocking feet and called, “Mom, where are you?”

Anna's door opened. She had already taken off her church clothes and slipped on a cotton dress. “What is it?” she asked.

“The East Germans are closing off the border in Berlin. I heard it on the radio.”

“Oh no.” Anna's hands leaped to her face. “I knew this would happen. I tried to tell them.”

“Maybe they can still get out. Maybe the government will. . . ”

But Anna had begun to cry. “I'll never see Peter again. I never will.”

Young Gene Thomas, son of Alex and Anna Thomas, has everything going for him: his natural good looks, his family's prosperity, and his reputation as the best athlete at East High in Salt Lake City. But now that world events are affecting his family, things may not be so rosy after all.

Kathy Thomas, daughter of Wally and Lorraine Thomas, has been thinking a lot lately — maybe too much — about politics, nuclear war, and racial injustice. What bothers her most is that nobody else in the family seems to care as much as she does.

Hans Stolz, son of Peter and Katrina Stolz, has been trying to get his parents to leave East Germany before it's too late — before the government won't let them leave. And now, suddenly, the border is closed.

In The Writing on the Wall, the first volume of the series Hearts of the Children, author Dean Hughes recreates the era of the '60s in stunning detail. But more than that, he shows how the turmoil of that period affects an ordinary family of Latter-day Saints. If you're interested in Church or world history, or if you're simply looking for a powerful LDS novel, you won't want to miss The Writing on the Wall.

Abridged Audiobook