"Mix together a series of fascinating characters, measure out a beaker of espionage, heat up a scintillating romance, and you have a triumphant cure for bored readers everywhere. Like any great work of historical fiction, The Laboratory Assistant transports you back in time in ways that illuminate our tumultuous present. It's a fantastic debut from a talented writer. Can't wait to read Loya's next book!" 

—Dale Bridges, author of The Mean Reds

"The Laboratory Assistant is darkly romantic, a sweeping and immersive tale that follows sisters forced to deal with their family’s shocking downfall amidst the upheaval of early twentieth-century Russian life. As the young women deal with poverty, illness, and political unrest, they also risk finding more for themselves—searching, without even realizing it, for intellectual engagement and love. This is a beautiful novel that asks an essential question: what will you do for the people you love when the tides of history threaten to sweep them away?"

-Janice Obuchowski, author of The Woods

"Natalia Loya is a masterful novelist whose story is both beautiful and passionately lyrical. Here, she has woven a fearsome tale of the turmoil and upheaval that signaled the Russian Revolution. The Laboratory Assistant encompasses familial devotion, physical and mental anguish, madness, and lust in a world where survival is not a guarantee." 

Rob Rickelman, author of Jumping to the End