A Secret Word: A Novel [Paperback]

Jennifer Paddock (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 23, 2004

Jennifer Paddock's incandescent debut novel spans fifteen years in the lives of friends Leigh, Sarah, and Chandler, beginning one fateful day in high school that forever connects them. While Leigh remains stuck in dead-end jobs in their Arkansas hometown, the more privileged Sarah and Chandler move to Manhattan, where Sarah seeks acting fame and Chandler struggles to make sense of her failed relationships, only to be sent reeling by an unexpected tragedy.

Sweeping from the Deep South to New York and interweaving each girl's distinctive voice into a seamless narrative, A Secret Word is a luminous story of friendship and family, sex and secrets, growing up and growing apart. It is about how well you can ever really know another person and the secrets we keep from our friends, our families, and, most important, ourselves.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Paddock's striking debut is an intricately balanced story of three girls from Fort Smith, Ark., linked for life by a high school tragedy. In 1986, tennis and country club pals Sarah and Chandler hitch a ride to lunch from the less privileged Leigh; they're pursued by footballer Trey, who crashes his car and dies. Flash forward to 1990: Chandler and Sarah have gone to college; Leigh stays behind to work at a dry cleaner's. But their paths continue to intersect, and Paddock follows her characters through 15 years as they peel apart and reunite, capturing each of the young women in separate first-person chapters. Chandler—introspective, loyal and passionate—moves to New York to go to law school, but loses her way after the death of her financially troubled father. Leigh is still in Fort Smith, her drunken, promiscuous mother a source of embarrassment. She goes on to work at the local grocery store and marries a local boy, though she's never quite content with the smallness of her life. Rich, stunning Sarah moves to New York in Chandler's wake to make it as an actress (though, as her acting coach tells her, she's a better tennis player than thespian). Supported by her father's money, she develops a mild cocaine habit and leans on Chandler for friendship and constancy. Paddock dances between characters and years, tracing her protagonists' tortured and happy relationships, their anguish and confusion and eventually the strength that comes to each. This is a subtle, surprising first novel, with unforgettable characters, a quiet sense of place and a nuanced exploration of the secrets, loves, despairs, friends and relatives that shape our lives.
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From Booklist

When we first meet the three central characters in Paddock's debut novel--Chandler, Sarah, and Leigh--they are high-school students driving to a country club for lunch between their classes. Along the way, they pass football star Trey, whose car spins off the road while he's showing off for them. Assuming he's fine, they drive on, and this decision haunts them when they learn his fate. From there, the novel follows the direction each girl's life takes. Leigh stays in Arkansas and marries a local boy who loves her but doesn't understand her. Chandler and Sarah both move to New York; Sarah pursues an acting career and Chandler drifts from tennis to politics to law until a family tragedy sinks her into depression. While Sarah and Chandler remain best friends, they drift apart from Leigh, but she reenters their lives in small, unexpected ways. Filled with many moving and sometimes devastating moments and observations, Paddock's first novel is three coming-of-age stories for the price of one. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; Original edition (March 23, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743247078
• ISBN-13: 978-0743247078
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,616,544 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars reluctant reviewer speaks out, October 8, 2004

By 

Paula Kuertzer - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Secret Word: A Novel (Paperback)

I'm not one to write reviews for books, not even those I really like, but I feel compelled to weigh in on A SECRET WORD. I read it weeks ago and told my sisters and my mother and some friends at work about it, telling them that they would have to read it, and some have, and those who did loved it, too. But what I have to weigh in on is its remarkable story, or plot, which couldn't be more energized or more thorough in its representation of all aspects of female life, or maybe all life in general really. Between the plotlines of the three main characters, we've got two tragic deaths (one accidental, one intentional), a multitude of failed love affairs, love-at-first sight, a good marriage, a bad marriage, divorce, mother/daughter relationships, father/daughter relationships, brother/sister relationships, girlfriend friendships, a gay guy/straight girl friendship, drug use, rock 'n roll, tennis, dance, acting, abortion, depression, 9-11, and countless coming-of-age situations that are immensely funny or sad and always memorable and inspirational and which occur in locales as diverse as Florence, Italy; Destin, Florida; Washington, D.C.; Fort Smith, Arkansas; and New York, NY. Yet, somehow, with all this activity and diversity, the plotlines merge and develop in subtle ways that some readers, if they read too fast, won't be able to appreciate. If you're wanting to race through this book, and think you can or you should because it isn't long and because the language is clear and conversational, be warned: you will be missing out on much beauty, much music, much art, much real life. Be good to yourself, is my advice, and take in everything. If you race through the Metropolitan Museum of Art, you might think a Monet is just a simple blur of color and not much else. This book, I assure you, deserves either to be read slowly or to be reread. I opted, incidentally, to do both.

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surprising paths of life, October 9, 2004

By 

Beth Sullivan (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Secret Word: A Novel (Paperback)

The writing in this book is just beautiful, and the story reminded me of my own life, how some friends and family who I don't see often still remain important and influential parts of my life. I loved how the three storylines worked together, and though the girls are different people on different paths, they still seem remarkably similar. I really liked the plot of this book--a lot of different things happen, but at the end of the book the characters are all at turning points in their lives and ready for a change. It's not a typical plot, with a final ending, but more life-like, with a surprising, moving ending that feels like it could also be a beginning.

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More Than "Chick Lit", June 3, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: A Secret Word: A Novel (Paperback)

Although I found this book in the "chick lit" section of a local bookstore, A Secret Word is much more than that designation would indicate. It is a beautifully written, compelling story about friends (who happen to be women), but it is much more. Don't miss this terrific debut by a very talented writer.