The Secret Between Us [Hardcover]

Barbara Delinsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 22, 2008

Nothing will break this mother-daughter bond. Not even the truth.


Deborah Monroe and her daughter, Grace, are driving home from a party when their car hits a man running in the dark. Grace was at the wheel, but Deborah sends her home before the police arrive, determined to shoulder the blame for the accident. Her decision then turns into a deception that takes on a life of its own and threatens the special bond between mother and daughter.

The Secret Between Us is an unforgettable story about making bad choices for the right reasons and the terrible consequences of a lie gone wrong. Once again, Barbara Delinksy has delivered a riveting study of family and a superbly crafted novel, perfectly targeted to reading groups and fans of provocative fiction.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Relationships are brought to the limit in Delinsky's splendid latest exploration of family dynamics. On a rainy night, Deborah Monroe and her teenage daughter, Grace, are driving home when their car hits a man. The victim, who turns out to be Grace's history teacher, is unconscious but alive. Although Grace was driving, Deborah sends her home and takes responsibility for the accident when the cops show up. Deborah is juggling a lot: as a family doctor, she is in private practice with her über-demanding widower father, who is trying to hide a drinking problem; her son, Dylan, is vision impaired; her mother's death continues to affect the family; Deborah is still dealing with her ex-husband's new, separate life; and her unmarried sister, Jill, has just announced she's pregnant. Grace's guilt about not taking responsibility for the accident makes her withdraw from friends and family, and the accident victim turns out to have a more complex private life than anyone imagined. The author seamlessly resolves relationship issues without sentiment, throws in a promising romance for Deborah and offers a redemptive scene between Grace and her grandfather. Delinsky combines her understanding of human nature with absorbing, unpredictable storytelling—a winning combination. (Jan.)
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Review

People Magazine has called the work of bestselling author Barbara Delinsky “Engrossing reading!”

“Delinsky delves deeper into the human heart and spirit with each new novel.”
—Cincinnati Enquirer

"Relationships are brought to the limit in Delinsky's splendid latest exploration of family dynamics.... [The Secret Between Us] combines her understanding of human nature with absorbing, unpredictable storytelling--a winning combination."
--Library Journal, (starred)

“One of her best… Delinsky is a first-rate storyteller who creates believable, sympathetic characters who seem as familiar as your neighbors.”
–The Boston Globe

“Provocative… Delinsky is interested in how the lies we tell for love can destroy us instead–and she lays out this particular deception so painstakingly that even the most honest reader will sympathize.”
–People

“Delinsky offers a polished drama… creating sympathetic characters with personal problems. Well-crafted and satisfying. “ –Kirkus

“Delinsky treads the same domestic themes as fellow best-seller Jodi Picoult.” —Entertainment Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 343 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; 1 edition (January 22, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385518684
• ISBN-13: 978-0385518680
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 1.3 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (69 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #602,163 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Barbara Delinsky, author of ESCAPE (2011), NOT MY DAUGHTER (2010), WHILE MY SISTER SLEEPS (2009), THE SECRET BETWEEN US (2008), and FAMILY TREE (2007), has written more than twenty bestselling novels with over thirty million copies in print. She has been published in twenty languages worldwide. Barbara's fiction centers upon everyday families facing not-so-everyday challenges. She is particularly drawn to exploring themes of motherhood, marriage, sibling rivalry, and friendship in her novels.

A lifelong New Englander, Barbara earned a B.A. in Psychology at Tufts University and an M.A. in Sociology at Boston College. As a breast cancer survivor who lost her mother to the disease when she was only eight, Barbara compiled the non-fiction book Uplift: Secrets From the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer Survivors, a handbook of practical tips and upbeat anecdotes. She donates her proceeds from the sale of this book to her charitable foundation, which funds an ongoing research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Barbara enjoys knitting, photography, and cats. She also loves to interact with her readers through her website at www.barbaradelinsky.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bdelinsky, and on Twitter as @BarbaraDelinsky.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Secrets are good or bad, January 22, 2008

By 

Theresa M. Studer "Terra57" (Hopedale, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Secret Between Us (Hardcover)

The Secret Between Us by Barbara Delinksy is truthfully painful. A good novel but with so much guilt that you really start to feel like it's you in the story. It's a can't put down book til the end so that you can see if things come out for better or worse.

Deborah Monroe is mom, daughter, sister, ex-wife, and prominent town doctor to a quiet little town in New England. Highly respected and loved, independent, honest to a fault has her life upturned by one little incident. Oh, is it little or bigger than she thinks.

Grace Monroe is a loving, athletic, brilliant, devoted teen who knows right from wrong but the one little unfortunate incident throws her into such an emotional turmoil that you sit and wonder how your own child would react to the same thing happening to her. The entire town knows this teen as truthfully honest and reliable almost to perfection which sets Grace up for emotional pain that is unimaginable.

The story brings into question what lengths we would go to as a parent in order to protect our children. It also questions our ability to handle one crisis following another as an adult especially in a small town where everyone knows everything about everyone. Can secrets truly be hidden in such a small community. Will one little deception tear a family apart not only from themselves but from all prying eyes. Can one selfish person willing cause so much emotional pain and break the trust that has been here for generations. So many questions with too few answers.

The author is brilliant with the actual storyline. With living in Massachusetts myself I can actually visualize all the areas that the author takes us to. Even though this is fiction it could also be someone's real life story. It's something we say can't possibly happen to us but in all reality, "It only takes one time", and it could very well come to pass.

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Many lessons learned and much healing done, February 13, 2008

By 

Ann M. Macpherson "passionate reader" (Newcastle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Secret Between Us (Hardcover)

I'm a huge fan of Delinsky and buy her books without reading any reviews. This one didn't disappointment me---but I'm quite surprised by some of the other reviews. To me, this book had so much impact and depth. I loved it.

There are the issues of teens drinking and driving, the overwhelming issue of a parent trying to protect or perhaps over-protect her child, the trauma of divorce on the entire family, the guilt over your life's decisions, the keeping of secrets, the telling of lies that affect everyone you love,painful loss of a loved one, expectations that aren't fulfilled. The list goes on and on. There is so much in this story that it's at times painful to digest.

Deborah regrets her divorce and what it did to her family. But she lies by omission causing more pain and trauma to her children. There's also the piece that shows a softening of the relationship with everyone she loves--including the ex-husband. And then there's the promise of a new love in the future----perhaps she learned from her past mistakes.

How can you not love the story? Perhaps the writing isn't done in the depth of other writers but the story has a huge impact on life and all its issues of living. I couldn't put it down, lost some sleep and pushed work aside to finish this book. To me, that's the kind of book that gets a "5 star" rating.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing book, January 24, 2008

By 

Shelley T (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Secret Between Us (Random House Large Print) (Paperback)

I also got an advance copy of this book through the BzzAgent program, but unlike the other reviewers who've posted here so far, I found the book to be incredibly poorly written and truly painful to read -- not because the story moved me, but because it was so derivative and ... terrible. I can't help but wonder whether those other reviewers read the same book as I did, or if they read this one at all. Don't get me wrong: I enjoy popular fiction and family dramas as well as romance fiction, so I've read other Barbara Delinsky books and thought they were okay (not great, but fine). This one, however, felt like she jotted it off in one afternoon, turned it in to her editor, and the thing got published without ever being looked at again.

If you want to read a GOOD novel about parents who try to protect a child who may (or may not) have done something deadly wrong, and that addresses big moral/ethical issues and family relationships in a meaningful way, AND IS WELL WRITTEN (!), then I strongly urge you to look elsewhere. Personally, I much preferred, and recommend, Rosellen Brown's "Before and After."