unable to share my thoughts on it at the time, I'm delighted to be able to do so today.
LITTLE WHITE SECRETS by CAROL MASON.
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| ISBN 978-1542004978 |
A daughter pushing the limits. A marriage ready to crack. A secret that can break them.
For Emily Rossi, life may not be perfect, but it’s pretty close. She has a great career, a house in the country, a solid marriage to Eric and two wonderful children—tennis superstar Daniel and quiet, sensitive Zara. But when her fourteen-year-old daughter brings home a toxic new best friend, Emily’s seemingly perfect family starts to spiral out of control.
Suddenly Zara is staying out late, taking drugs and keeping bad company. And just when Emily needs Eric to be an involved father, he seems too wrapped up with his job in London to care. What’s more, he’s started drinking again.
When a dark secret from the past emerges, Emily’s life is turned upside down. Struggling to protect the people she loves, can she save her damaged family? Doing so may mean keeping a secret of her own…
- Synopsis
"Zara?" I shout, as I stare at my face in the mirror at the bottom of the stairs.
- First Sentence, Prologue
The music fades into the background. The serving staff moves around me in slow motion. My head careens, a sensation that carries right down to my stomach. I stare at the single loose coil of hair at the nape of her neck. Still she rattles on. On to something else now. The comment is said and is behind her, lost in her litany. I take a step back, two, bump up against someone, mouth an apology, then flee.
As the door closes behind me I register the falling away of noise and the snap of cold air. But her words cling to me like witches' fingers. I can't shake off the ugliness of them. I stand there, regrouping, trying to breathe, rebounding from the betrayal, my heart sinking, my brain just wanting to make it all go away.
- Memorable Moment, Page 174/7
MY THOUGHTS ... Probably in my top 10 of things that niggle me about a book is a cast almost entirely peopled by unlikable characters. I mean, one or two unlikable characters you can get away with, right? But a book in which, almost without exception, every character is unlikable? Hmm! And yet, and yet there is just something about these characters, that makes them great reading.
Maybe they had redeeming features, maybe they were written in such a way that I could empathise with them; could understand their actions/reactions, maybe there was something about them that gained my sympathy ... maybe, unlikable as they were, I, for some reason or other, simply connected with them. Who knows? But, whether 'primary' or 'secondary', well written, I found myself hooked by the characters of Little White Secrets.
A dark domestic drama; just one more of many in a genre that lets face it is already full to over brimming? I must admit to being sceptical but Little White Secrets pleasantly surprised me.
OK so there were those things that were pretty obvious from the outset BUT there were also those things that I was convinced I knew only to discover, in yet another oh so cleverly crafted twist, that I was only partly right or had correctly predicted the event only to have got the wrong individual. No matter, even if I was able to figure out some of the many plot twists, it didn't for one moment take away from the journey.
A read I'd suggest as being perfect for any reading group; compellingly thought provoking ... just what would you do if such a dark secret from your past was to emerge?
SUMMED UP IN A SENTENCE ... A compelling story full of suspense, lies, misdirection and not such little white secrets.
My thanks to Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for supplying me with a copy of Little White Secrets.
A dark domestic drama; just one more of many in a genre that lets face it is already full to over brimming? I must admit to being sceptical but Little White Secrets pleasantly surprised me.
OK so there were those things that were pretty obvious from the outset BUT there were also those things that I was convinced I knew only to discover, in yet another oh so cleverly crafted twist, that I was only partly right or had correctly predicted the event only to have got the wrong individual. No matter, even if I was able to figure out some of the many plot twists, it didn't for one moment take away from the journey.
A read I'd suggest as being perfect for any reading group; compellingly thought provoking ... just what would you do if such a dark secret from your past was to emerge?
SUMMED UP IN A SENTENCE ... A compelling story full of suspense, lies, misdirection and not such little white secrets.
My thanks to Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for supplying me with a copy of Little White Secrets.
8 comments:
Well, you've certainly convinced me with this excellent review that I need to look at this book more closely. I'm off now to check out my options.
When I think about it, I do not think that I have read many books where all the characters were unlikeable. I guess I tend to read older fiction when writers did not do that too much. I have also not read many dark domestic stories. However, if a writer is goof I can see them being appealing.
Felicity,
This sounds like a compelling,
dark domestic drama. And I will
keep it in mind.
Thank you for your nuanced and
excellent review.
Raven
Nice review
I'm glad this turned out to be a winner despite the unlikable characters. I guess it can work sometimes. Sounds like an entertaining read!
Hi Felicity,
I have read quite a few books just lately where I have detested many of the characters, but perhaps that is just a personal thing and I haven't actually been supposed to dislike them all so much!!
Sometimes, I enjoy grappling with these 'bad person' characters. Stories where everyone turns out to be nice in the end, are a bit too sugary for me, although every once in a while, a happy ending is good to have.
I think that with the ever advancing age of self-publishing, there are no barriers to entry any more, so many of the genres do seem to be a little overcrowded now, as there are only so many permutations of a storyline you can come up with. Is that likely to stop me keep reading books so avidly though? Of course not - as if :)
This looks like another new to me author hitting my shelves, as I like the sound of many of Carol's books. I was a little surprised that this is the first story she has written, where the cover art is so vastly out of sync with all the others, which are quite uniform in their theme. The OCD in me has to wonder why?
A lovely review as ever, you definitely helped sell this one to me, so thanks for sharing :)
Yvonne
xx
Wow...a whole cast of unlikables yet they kept your attention? Sounds like the author did something great with the writing then! Great share!
It does sound like it would be perfect for a group read. I'm glad it surprised you!
Karen @ For What It's Worth
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