Customer Reviews

The Language of Secrets

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I wanted to like this book but it was a big letdown. The writing was very poor, the dialogue was strained, and even though I wanted to read through to the end, it was an effort to do so. The plot had a lot of promise although some of the specific events are implausible given the time period that the story is set. The shotgun wedding, the divorced woman not being able to get a credit card, the conversational style would all work better had the story been set back a couple of decades. The family members are dysfunctional as individuals and as a group yet the characters are very shallowly written with very little backstory telling us what may have shaped the dysfunction. If the author wanted to produce a quality book in so few pages, some characters and sideplots should have been eliminated or the book should have been longer with more completely drawn characters. I read several books a week and while many are entertaining, they don't all hit the 4 or 5 star level, however I seldom rate anything that I bother to finish any lower than 3 stars, so at 2 stars I found this an exceptional dissappointment. I am very glad that I got this book from my library.

Once the hero makes his shocking discovery at the start of the book you just have to keep turning those pages to find out WHY. Well and tautly written, this rattles along. The perfect book to take with you on holiday, when you just want to escape from it all and spend time in another, more exciting world. I understand this is Ms Dixon's first novel. If she writes more like this I will be buying them all.

The Language of Secrets is a tightly wound mystery, with a plot unlike any other I've ever run across. The entire story is unusual and grabs you immediately. The main character had moved to London to pursue a career, and remained out of touch with his immediate family. After many, many years, he returns to California and tries to reconnect. He finds his parents have died, and when he visits their graves, he sees another headstone next to them. His. Showing that he died at age four. Immediately he's bounced into a living hell of flashbacks, waking delusions, and disquietude that infects his own marriage. He has no idea who he is and what has happened.



Thus begins this twisted and complex tale that takes you through the lives of several members of his family. It is suspenseful and anxious...so much so that I felt nauseated at times. Perhaps it was the suspense of the missing four year, nearly the same age as my own child, which made me anxious. All I can say is that this story fascinated me by just how off-the-wall it was. I read a lot, and running into an utterly unique premise is unusual.

That said, it's apparent that this is a plot driven story rather than built on solid characters. I felt a bit cheated that some of these amazing situations came from some rather superficial characters who seemed predictable despite the unpredictable plot. Some were so shallow that I could actually foresee their actions, and others exemplified tremendous character values yet no rationale for their behavior was given. It was the characters that detracted me from the story.

The story proceeds at a quick pace, and the only other "blip" that occurred was when one character's almost unimaginable actions were explained, in an `aside' by the author, where she attempts to justify the actions in light of the socio-political values of the time period. It was only two paragraphs, but it didn't fit. She should have been able to show those details without such an invasive explanation. It felt a bit preachy, actually, and it derailed the pace. And while she tried to account for the actions, it wasn't sufficient to overcome the initial doubt about the behavior, and effectively made her argument less powerful.

This is a intriguing book, and one that I will share with friends. The minor flaws it has doesn't take away from this tremendous story and fascinating plot.

I picked it up because I was in the middle of my semester in graduate school and needed something compelling to take me away from my books and studies when I needed some down time. This novel did just that but sadly little more.

The story begins when Justin realizes that his son is 3 years old and has never met Justin's parents or sisters. With the original support of his wife, Justin goes on a hunt to find his family remembers and reconnect. He hears that his father was in a nursing home but when he contacts the home he finds that his father has since died. However, there is a box of his father's belongings that has yet to be picked up by the family. Justin retrieves the items and brings them to his sister's house where he believes they will make a good conversation starter. Oddly, when he arrives at his sister's house she has no idea who he is and when he states his name she becomes extremely upset and orders him away. Justin then visits his parents' graves to find that there is a third stone next to their two that bears his name! This sends Justin on an epic search for truth that takes him deep into his past to uncover secrets that threaten not only his memories of his past family but also that of his present and future.

This novel did what I wanted it to do: it enveloped me into the story. I was completely engrossed from the first page and had difficulties putting it down. The first half of the story seemed well-written and with great purpose. Yet after the halfway mark things started to get a bit hairy and the prose become stilted as the story took twists and turns that asked the reader to suspend his/her preconceptions. I do not mean that this is a science fiction novel in any way! I just mean to say that Justin's eventual findings are something more akin to an episode of General Hospital or Passions which left me disappointed.

Wow, this is a book that packs a punch! Imagine going to see your family, you find your parents deceased and you see your own headstone that says you died as a young child. The story goes back and forth from the present back to the past to tell how such a thing could happen. The family secrets that are revealed as Justin tries to learn who he is and where he came from are quite shocking! As Justin unveiled secrets to his past I felt very sorry for him. His story was heartbreaking. I found myself questioning how far a mother would go to protect her family. I thought I knew exactly where the story was going until the very last page where the ending caught me totally off guard! Loved it! Dianne Dixon weaves a web of lies, deception and betrayals that is so suspenseful you will be up reading into the wee hours of the morning.

The plot sounds very intriguing, which is why I was drawn to this book to begin with, but I just can't get past the poor writing. The 9th-grade-style prose is almost painful to read. I guess I'll have to wait for the movie. I'm sure Dixon has already adapted her own screenplay. She should stick to screenwriting.

I found the story compelling, particularly when Justin's past was such a mystery. But I found the mother's behavior impossible to believe, and the author didn't give me enough character backstory to believe it. Toward the end, the boy's sisters seemed unbelievably shallow, with no sympathy for their mother having lost a son, and apparently feeling no sorrow of their own at losing a brother.

The Language of Secrets by Dianne Dixon is a poignant and haunting look into the devastation caused by the secrets we keep. Justin Fisher has just begun a wonderful new life with his wife Amy and new son Zack in their new home in California. Returning to his home state after fifteen years away, he decides to finally visit his parents, but finds that their home has been sold, and his father's new address is a convalescent home. Following the clues, he soon discovers that his father recently died, his mother died two years ago, and when he goes to visit their graves, he finds one with his own name on it with a death date of thirty years ago. The shock sends Justin on a quest to learn why his sister refused to talk to him when he went to her home, why he answers to the name TJ, and who is the red-haired woman he remembers as his mother. But the answers about his past may just destroy his future. Dixon has created an interesting study on how one small act can have major repercussions. The story flips between Justin's present and his mother's past as the author puts together this tragic story. Every character feels completely lost, as though floundering through life trying to find some significance and purpose. Justin doesn't quite know who he is, Amy needs to escape her father's grasp, Caroline wants to reclaim the beautiful girl she used to be, and Robert just wants to hold on to his wife who he always knew was too good for him. Dixon touches on several themes: Caroline's lack of power after becoming pregnant in the 1960s and feeling forced to marry the father, leaving her without any way to support herself or her dreams; Justin's desire to clean the slate, even if it means doing the wrong thing for the right reason. The story is completely haunted by Robert's anger and need for revenge on his wife. His love for her is fueled with an anger that will ultimately destroy all that he desires. It's a terribly sad story, but Dixon has a knack for dealing compassionately with unsympathetic characters and exposing their humanness. It's a novel that will haunt readers long after the last page is turned.

When I first started The Language of Secrets, I wasn't sure what to expect. The book opens with Justin Fisher pulling up to a beautiful old wooden house 20 minutes from Los Angeles. Justin is so nervous that he's trembling and he hides this from his young wife. It is clear that Justin doesn't know what to expect and is somewhat disoriented, we don't know why his memory appears spotty - whether there is something wrong with Justin's mental state or if some event has caused these "missing pieces -- blank spaces where important parts of his past should have been". It is clear that there's a mystery and that it began over a decade ago.

Justin discovers that the dreaded family reunion has been postponed. It has taken him so long to return to the house on Lima Street, that it is too late to see his parents. When he discovers his grave next to theirs, Justin begins to wonder about his grip on reality. To be h0nest, I did too -- Dianne Dixon keeps us guessing about the mystery of Justin's gravestone and who Justin Fisher really is.

This uncertainty, coupled with the stresses of a new job and relocation from England, and the growing pains of his recent marriage put additional pressure on Justin just as he appears fragile. Dixon is careful not tip her hand - and the details and the writing draw us into the mystery and keep us wondering.

As Justin slowly comes across clues to his past and Dixon reveals what happened during those "missing years", she weaves in the story of Justin's different parents. Once Dixon introduced Caroline and told her story, The Language of Secrets transformed from a good read to an amazing story. As the book will affect each reader in a unique way, to me The Language of Secrets was a book about motherhood - the sacrifices, pains, joy, and misunderstood moments. The Language of Secrets is a unique book, beautifully crafted and powerful.

It strikes me as a book perfect for book clubs. I would love to find out how other people felt about Justin, his family and what they went through.

ISBN-10: 0385530633 - Hardcover
Publisher: Doubleday (March 23, 2010), 272 pages
Review copy provided by the publisher.

Ever noticed how often lately we've been pleasantly surprised when reading or listening to a book by a first-time author? It's almost as if you've suddenly discovered something wonderful, and can't wait to tell your friends about it. Many are telling their pals about THE LANGUAGE OF SECRETS by California screenwriter Dianne Dixon. It's original, compelling, and tends to make one think about his or her personal values.

Justin Fisher should be happily content. He's the manager of a plush hotel, happily married to a wonderful woman, and father of a fine young son. However, his contentment isn't quite complete because he wonders about his past - he has been estranged from his boyhood family and there are some really blank spots in his early years.

Feeling that it's time to put questions and unhappiness behind him he returns to California in hopes of reconnecting with his family. Once there it is shock after shock. The house he once lived in is now home to strangers. He goes to the nursing home where his father had lived only to learn that his father had passed away just several weeks before Justin's arrival. Upon going to the cemetery to visit the graves of his parents he finds not two graves but three, and one belongs to him. Thomas Justin Fisher apparently died at the age of three.

Dixon relates Justin's search bu revealing his life in flashbacks to his childhood. We are privy to both past and present as he slowly and painfully discovers the truth about his mother, father and himself.

Film and stage actress Rebecca Lowman delivers a sterling reading of this highly emotional drama.

Enjoy!

- Gail Cooke