Secrets She Left Behind (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Keith Weston is having a rough year. After finding out that his biological father is the deceased husband of his mother’s best friend, he got caught in a fire started by his newly discovered half-sister Maggie. Now, badly scarred and very angry, Keith has no one but his mother, Sara, to lean on. Until she mysteriously disappears one afternoon without a word. Chamberlain offers a follow-up to Before the Storm (2008) that can stand alone as a fast-paced read that, through the alternating perspectives of the children and a diary kept by the still-missing Sara, explores the psychological complexity of a family pushed to its limits. Although some of the novel’s plot twists may be more significant to those who have read the first book, the alternating narratives allow plenty of insights into the characters’ motives while creating intrigue and suspense. Ultimately, Sara’s disappearance reveals a long history of secrets and deceit, forcing Keith to learn to be independent. --Claire Orphan

Product Description

One afternoon, single mother Sara Weston says that she's going to the store—and never returns. In her absence, she leaves her teenage son alone with his damaged past and a legacy of secrets.

Keith Weston nearly lost his life in an act of arson. He survived—but with devastating physical and emotional scars. Without his mother, he has no one to help him heal, no money, nothing to live for but the medications that numb his pain. Isolated and angry, his hatred has one tight focus: his half sister, Maggie Lockwood.

Nineteen-year-old Maggie Lockwood spent a year in prison for the acts that led up to the fire. Now she's back home. But her release cannot free her from the burden of guilt she carries. She grew up with Keith Weston, played with him as a child…and recently learned they share the same father.

Now the person Keith despises most is the closest thing he has to family—until Sara returns. If Sara returns….

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Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Mira; 1 edition (May 26, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0778326152
• ISBN-13: 978-0778326151
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #189,408 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great conclusion, May 27, 2009

By	Loves those books (Florence, AZ) - See all my reviews

This book is a wonderful conclusion to the stories that began in "Before the Storm". As Chamberlain is known for, this storyline quickly pulls you in and doesn't let go until the very last page. I read it in a week (and that is saying something since I am a stay at home mom of two). I am actually sad that I am finished, I want to know more about what happens with the Lockwoods...maybe Diane Chamberlain will make this a trilogy? In any case, if you are a fan of Chamberlains' this book will not dissapoint.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pyromaniacs in a Circular Parade, September 14, 2009

By	W. T. Hoffman "artist and musician" (Pennsylvania, United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

(What's this?)

Diane Chamberlain is a well established author, having written 18 novels. SECRETS SHE LEFT BEHIND reads like a work created by a writer who definately knows her craft. I wasnt sure I'd enjoy it at first, but the novel draws you right in until the last page is read. When talking about a 490 page novel, thats a deep connection. By no stretch of the imagination is this a purely plot driven, romance-mystery piece of pulp you'll forget a week after you read it. The characters speak with an honest realism, since the book is written in the first person, from four different viewpoints. Just knowing these narrating characters ought to spark your curiousity about the book. Three of them are siblings. First comes ANDY, the 16 year old young man who was born with fetal alchohol syndrom, leaving him with a young child's mental capacity in the body of a teenage guy discovering sex. Then, you have his sister Maggie, who is just being released from prison for her role in a deadly fire she helped to set. Last, you have their badly burnt, pain pill popping half brother Keith, who is the reason I found the book so spellbounding. Keith's mother, long time best friends with Maggie and Andy's mother, suddenly disappears the day that Maggie is released from prison. She is also one of the narrators of the book, tho her section of the novel is drawn from long journals she kept, as a writing class exercise. That literary device alone works as sort of CINEMA VERITE, keeping the suspence about her disappearance of mounting importance to the reader. Within her journal entries, and a misplaced letter she wrote for her son explaining her disappearance, Keith's mother provides the slow revelation about the "SECRETS" SHE LEFT BEHIND. Thru flashbacks in time, the Journal provides the answers as to how these three siblings became so badly wounded. Each of the siblings' disfunctions occur to a different realm of their world. Keith was badly burned in the fire, so he's physically disfigured and crippled in pain. Maggie is destroyed by self hatred, guilt and betrayal, an emotionally shattered shell of her former self. And of course Andy was mentally destroyed from his mother's depression fueled alcoholism, during her pregnancy. While each of the siblings suffer mentally, emotionally and physically, its their mutual "spiritual" growth and self- acceptance, that forms the core of the novel, more than the mystery surrounding Keith's mother's disappearance. This might not sound like an exciting read, until you start the book. Ms. Chamberlain proves she has the skills of an experienced writer who can take mundane reality, and imbue it with excitement and curiousity. Once you're sucked into the realistic milieu of SECRETS SHE LEFT BEHIND, the desire to solve Keith's mother's disappearance becomes just as important to you, as to Keith. The desire to solve the mystery of the disappearance hooks you, but its the hope that these suffering people will find peace and redemption, that keeps you hooked.

I'd recommend the book to nearly anyone. Almost anyone would like the novel, since the main characters are painted with great realism. Some are addicts, some are betrayed, some are victims, some are victimizers, some are indifferent, some look to the past, some the present, but all hope for a better future. Most anyone older than 16 will enjoy the novel, tho its definately NOT a "TEEN NOVEL". With addiction a major issue for at least half the major characters, those in recovery might identify with the novel. I liked it, cos of the PAIN these people are working thru on all levels, as well as the seemingly effortless, tho quite inventive, writing technics of Ms. Chamberlain. The novel subtlely handles harse life lessons being taught by fate, to the teenage brothers and sister, without ever once sounding didactic or heavy handed. Best of all, there is no happy ending, or sad ending. The novel concludes in an unexpected way, without leaving the reader mumbling "WHAT A RIP OFF!" Like a light desert after the perfect meal, you'll close the last page feeling sated, without wanting more.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of secrets!, September 6, 2009

By	Tonya Speelman "Hoarder of books" (Goldendale WA) - See all my reviews

(What's this?)

Lots of secrets in this book! Everyone has them, but this book was mostly about Sara, a mom to Keith, who was burned in the last book. This intriguing book flew by for me because I wanted to know what happened to Sara, who Jen really was, because I didn't believe her story for ONE minute. I mean, she KNEW who Keith and Maggie were from the beginning!

The writing was outstanding! I couldn't get enough. Andy was adorable. Although I couldn't wrap my mind around thinking it was OK for them to have sex. Not ok with me at all. I did love the love stories, but need the map the cross reference everyone.

I hope Ms. Chamberlain decides to come out with a third book!