Customer Reviews

All the Secret Things

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book starts out with a family of four. James, Veronica, Emily and Lucy Walcott with the time being during World War II. Veronica is a singer at clubs where there are lots of soldiers. James works two sometimes three jobs to keep the bills paid and food on the table for his girls.

Veronica is an alcoholic. It shows through out the book but it is strange no one ever offered to get her help. I have wondered why the author never had someone talk to Veronica about attending an AA (Alcoholic Anonymous) meeting. Or why when the girls were older in there teens why they were not offered help through Al-teen meetings? What this book does show is the hurt, pain, confusing, anger, and destruction that alcoholism causes to a family. One of the reason why this book received the rating I gave it. Sorry the rating is below I will not post it this early in the review.

James is one of those fathers that would do anything to protect his girls. He goes to such amazing lengths to actually do this. Since he works so much he does not actually see or know everything that is happening but what he does learn shocks him.

Emily is a young 8 year old when this book starts out. She is a confused child and does not understand the mood swings that Veronica goes through with the alcohol. She tries to nurture and mother her younger sister Lucy but has no one who will nurture and mother her. Emily grows up, learns, and actually grows in life through out this book. She learns everything that she should not do as a mother to a child but how does she learn everything that she should do for a child when she is a mother?

Lucy is a young child of 3 or 4 at the start of the book. She does not understand anything except that Emily is more of a mother to her than a sister. If it was not for Emily Lucy would of been with out food, clean clothes and any fun that a child should have.

Emily is the main character in this book. She grows through all the heartache, pain and abuse from her mother, Rosellen, Doug and a boyfriend. Nevertheless she overcame it all to become a wonderful person. Emily became a young single mother while in college. She became a wonderful single mother who loved her child very much and did not allow him to suffer as a child like she did. She provided everything for him. To me it seems a little to unreal that there were no problems, arguments or anything wrong with the mother-child relationship.

The title to this book is hard to comprehend until the reader get to around half the book. Then almost everything becomes very clear. There are so many secrets in the family that I wondered how they kept them all straight. Emily learned early on that there were secrets in the family but did not learn about the secrets until she was in need of a blood transfusion.

This is a wonderful amazing read. I enjoyed how the author had a chapter and verse from the bible at the beginning of most chapters in the book. The author had a great verse picked out to go along with the chapters in the book. While I would not recommend this book to a young teenager, I would recommend this book to anyone over sixteen.

The bunnies and I give this book 4-Carrots.

Thanks for a great read Ms. Sheila Cragg.

All The Secret Things
By Shiela Cragg

As the title suggests, there are many secrets in this story. Eight-year-old Emily Walcott goes through life dealing with what these secrets do to the whole family. Her alcoholic mother leaves the family, leaving her father to raise her and her younger sister. He soon marries, and though the step- mother does her best to bring a semblance of stability, her son creates an unsafe and scary environment for his step-sisters. Though Emily tells how he torments her and her sister, the step-mother is in denial. Emily searches for love, and sometimes turns to the wrong person to find it. This book documents the life from childhood to adulthood, and even then, she still discovers the biggest secret of all. The way Emily deals with it is astounding.
Kudos to the author on this debut novel. All the secret things is an entertaining and insightful read.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author in exchange for a honest and unbiased review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.
J.M. Powers~Author

We meet young, impressionable Emily Walcott when she is about 8 years old and are quickly drawn into her story. She is the eldest of two girls, living with their parents, who turn out not to be quite what they seem at first blush, and Emily soon learns to fend for herself with the help of her caring Grammy and other friends who come and go through her life. Her family is a maze of secrets and young Emily doesn't know or understand why there are so many questions, but accepts that she has an unusual family. Her alcoholic, unstable mother leaves the family and takes up with a man, who later in Emily's life treats her better than her mother does. Emily, innocent and naive, falls into a relationship with an older college student and becomes pregnant. With Emily's illness after her child is older, all the secrets become known to her and healing comes. This is a very good debut novel and well worth the read.

This is Sheila Cragg's debut novel and it was a very enjoyable and compelling read that kept me turning pages. The story centers around Emily Walcott and begins when she is just eight years old. The book takes her through adulthood and the need to uncover many of the secrets her family has kept from her out of love.

Emily grows up split between two families. Her alcoholic and unstable mother and her father and stepmother raising her stepmothers troubled son. The book highlights the terror and issues faced by a young and neglected girl who must often seek out and find loving relationships with others outside her family to find the comfort she needs. The book highlights the many complexities of family relationships, of faith, and of finding love and acceptance.

One area that I did wish for more information about was I felt that Emily's sister Lucy seemed to fall in and out of the story. The author does tie up the loose ends, though.

Overall a good debut novel and I look for more to come from the author.

Reader received a complimentary copy from the Library Thing Member Giveaway program.

All the Secret Things draws you quickly into the story. As you meet Emily and her father, you want to find out more about them. Well written, vibrant images.