A Dark Secret [Hardcover]

Elizabeth Atkins Bowman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 7, 2000

Karen Bradley has not seen her sister Sharlene in years. Now calling herself Camilleand passing as a white woman orphaned as a child, Sharlene has remade her life, and her past. All her hopes for the future, and the wedding that will seal her new life depend on her hidden past remaining hidden. But will the price of her new life be her mothers early death?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Packed to bursting with steamy romantic intrigue, fatal illness, race and class strife, murder, kidnapping, rape and high-level politics, Bowman's (White Chocolate) hyperventilating contemporary drama gallops from one over-the-top showdown to the next as the protagonist, Camille Morgan, a 28-year-old mixed-race woman from Detroit, tries to "pass" as white and remake her life. After a painful childhood as the unwanted pale child in a dark-skinned family, Sharlene Bradley changes her name, goes to law school and lands Southern blueblood Jefferson Stone as a beau. Jeff's parents, Sen. Montgomery Stone and his wife, Millie, forbid his marriage to a Yankee until Camille fakes a pregnancy and takes up residence at White Pines, the family's Virginia plantation. Racist Senator Stone is caught up in a sexual harassment hearing and a bid for the presidential nomination, and Millie has her own secret hidden away in the attic, which diverts attention from Camille's past. Meanwhile, Camille's long-estranged sister, Karen, has learned their mother will die without a kidney transplant and is determined to track down Camille as a donor. Blackmailed by Karen, who takes a job as the senator's press secretary, and hunted by a reporter hot on her trail, Camille harbors secrets that are bound to be revealed, but by the time they are she'll be ready to escape her abusive husband's dysfunctional family. Bowman chops her novel up into 137 short chapters, giving each scene little depth. Her characters often speak in platitudes, such as "She'll join this family when hell freezes over," while Senator Stone addresses every woman as "sugar" and Millie says little except "gracious." Bowman's premise is provocative, but her characters get lost in the scramble. Agent, Susan Crawford. (Aug.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Bowman's saga of two wildly different sisters is a perfect read-to-relax novel, with just the right amount of political spice to balance the melodrama. Camille is determined to escape her dark secret of a biracial, poverty-stricken Detroit childhood. To that end, the former "ghost chile" has reinvented herself as a white New York orphan with money, a law career, and fianceJeff Stone, son of Republican U.S. senator Monty Stone, tobacco fortune heir and proverbial son of the segregationist South. Meanwhile, Camille's sister, Karen, is struggling with a family business back home only to learn that Mama's kidneys have failed as a result of diabetes, and--yes--only Camille, born Sharlene, can save her. Can Karen locate this lost sister, forcing her to reveal her secret past? So deliciously convoluted is Bowman's tale, filled as it is with schemers, liars, and villains who all but twirl their mustaches (and that's just the women!), readers will have a hard time tearing themselves away. Whitney Scott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 429 pages
• Publisher: Forge; 1st edition (July 7, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312868065
• ISBN-13: 978-0312868062
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,559,293 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Deliciously wicked novel, July 21, 2000

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Dark Secret (Hardcover)

Years ago, Sharlene Bradley left her family to flee the slums of Detroit and the problems of being a Zebra in a society where neither white nor black accepted her. Never looking back, she vanished in New York. Currently, she uses the name Camille Morgan, passes herself as a purebred Caucasian, and is engaged to Jeff Stone, son of a Virginia Senator and one of the last former segregationists still in Congress.

Camille's life goals are within her fingertips until her sister Karen arrives begging for her help. Their mother needs a kidney transplant to live and none of the immediate family matches hers. Karen wants Sharlene to come home to save their mother's life.

DARK SECRETS is an intriguing premise that showcases the problems society poses by buttonholing mixed racial children. The story line is filled with tensions and twists as each of the prime charcaters hide secrets from one another. However, the tale is overburdened with too many secrets turned into tiny subplots. The stereotyping of the Senator and his wife make them seem more like blithering idiots than a highly placed politician and his polished wife. Elizabeth Atkins Bowen writes an interesting family drama that fans of the sub-genre will enjoy but they will think this novel could have been a bit more focused.

Harriet Klausner

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Things Aren't What They Seem..., August 8, 2000

By 

TaRessa Stovall (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Dark Secret (Hardcover)

Elizabeth Atkins-Bowman's second novel (her first, White Chocolate, is another must-read) proves that she is a masterfully gifted storyteller. This racy, mysterious tale is sensual, surprising and challenging in unexpected ways. This is a treat not to be missed!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Grass Isn't Always Greener, May 12, 2001

By 

Dawn R Reeves "tamardi" (Harrisburg, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dark Secret (Paperback)

The book is one of intrigue and subtle romance. Atkins Bowman is a gifted storyteller. This book is a page turner providing many twist and turns throughout. Just when you thought you had someone figured out another family member pops up with their own hidden secret. Camille, aka Sharlene thought she had it all figured out and thought the world was a better place on the other side, NOT!

Atkins Bowman provided many thought provoking scenes and scenes that made the reader gasp. Near the conclusion you understood Sharlene's mother's treatment of her even if you didn't agree with her actions. Everyone and I mean everyone had a secret. The Stone family was as dysfuntional as they come. Great story!