Grace Adams appears to be living a happy contented life in the same village near St Andrews in Scotland where she was raised. Married to Paul and the mother of twin teenage daughters, Grace spends her time painting and caring for her family. Life is good, or so it seems.
The truth is, Grace has been hiding a secret for many years. A secret she has slowly came to terms with and managed to live with. That is until out of the blue, Grace receives a phone call from her childhood best friend, Orla, who she hasn't seen or spoken to for years - for good reason.
With just one phone call, Grace's idyllic life is turned upside down as Orla threatens to expose the very secret Grace has kept hidden all these years. You see, only Orla and Grace know the truth about what happened to a nine year old girl called Rose whilst on a Girl Guide's camping trip all those years ago and whilst Grace never wants the truth to come out, Orla it seems now has other ideas. Grace finally has to face her worst fears as she realises that her dark secret is not going to remain buried forever.
Tell Me No Secrets is a psychological thriller set against a familiar, normal domestic backdrop. Grace is an ordinary working mother with a hard-working husband and teenage twin daughters. They lead a happy life in the village where Grace was raised. Indeed some of her childhood friends have also married and remained in the village, where everyone seems to know each other. Although Grace and her husband lived in the States after their marriage, Paul thought it would be ideal to raise their daughters 'back home' and so they returned. Grace had her misgivings about returning to her childhood home as she desperately has tried to leave the past behind, however, as Paul is oblivious to Grace's 'secret' she could not provide much of an argument against returning home. She has made the best of things however, until she receives the phone call that throws her life into turmoil.
he phone call from Orla is where the book begins. So instantly I was drawn into and intrigued by this 'secret' which Grace has kept to herself for years. From the start, the book has a very readable quality to it, despite it not being pacy or action-packed.
The story slowly unfolds and is mixed with flashbacks to Grace's childhood as well as revealing exactly what the secret is that Grace has kept hidden since then and how she has coped over the ensuing years.
I immediately warmed to Grace and I enjoyed the characterisation throughout the book. All characters are well-developed with interesting traits and also there are no long or meaningless descriptions. Everything seems to be included for a reason, which becomes more apparent as you turn the pages.
I did think for a short time that this book was going to be an average read as well as a predicitive one, but I was wrong, as little twists appeared to alter my thoughts. About half-way through, the story became more exciting as I realised there was in fact a lot more to it than I first thought. Some characters were not as they first seemed and I found I was changing my thoughts about them as the story unfolded. It was I thought, quite cleverly done and towards the end of the book, I found it very difficult to put down.
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