Secret Lives

By: Diane Chamberlain

Narrated by: Johanna Parker

Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

Actress Eden Riley's decision to make a film about her mother plunges her into a shattering confrontation with her own past, irrevocably altering her life and the lives of those she loves. Her mother, Katherine Swift, was a renowned children's author who died when Eden was very young. Now Eden, recovering from a divorce and disillusioned with her glamorous life, returns to the childhood home of the mother she barely knew. She moves in with her uncle, archaeologist Kyle Swift and his wife, Louise.

Eden gets more than she bargained for when Kyle gives her the journal her mother had kept from the age of 13 until her death. Eden is spellbound by the powerfully written, intimate diary that chronicles a life of hardship, madness, and tragedy. But her fascination turns to horror when she discovers the shocking truth about her mother's life.

Eden turns for comfort to Ben Alexander, Kyle's colleague, not knowing that Ben has a secret of his own that could ruin Eden and her career. Now Eden must make a heartbreaking decision as she struggles to lay the ghosts of the past to rest and come to terms with her own future.

Shifting gracefully between Eden's world and Katherine's, Secret Lives seduces with the power of its images and the lyricism of its prose.

©1992 Diane Chamberlain (P)2013 Tantor

Rocky, but Powerful

This book wove together so many tough subjects, but managed to do it with a consistent story line. The plot twists could be seen a mile away, but I think that was intentional. It felt like knowing drew you deeper into the complete humanity of the characters, the secrets, flaws, all of it.

I especially liked the way it explored the world of severe social anxiety. As a person who has lived with crippling anxiety my entire life, it was interesting to see it reflected in a character from an earlier time period. You read the lines and just ache as you see it worsen and worsen. For me it was a glimpse into what my life might have been like if I was living in a world before pharmacology.

The other themes, divorce and custody, the fallout of sexual molestation, the way betrayal can deform lives, all of it was crafted quite well. The most striking thing is how well it illustrated the finality of human decisions. Nothing, once done, can ever truly be undone. You can make amends, you can go back and finish unfinished goals, but you can never actual undo anything in the past, and usually you can't even want to. Even the worst things that happen, the worst decisions, the worst betrayal, all of it still leads forward to a new place. And somehow, humans manage to find joy where they are in some way. It's almost impossible to actually want to give up the gifts of today in order to change the past, no matter how terrible it was.

Good Read, but not my favorite

Would you consider the audio edition of Secret Lives to be better than the print version?

I haven't read the print version, but I enjoyed the audio version.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

It sort of dragged on, but the twists were good.

Wow. Just, wow.

A multi-layered book of dysfunction, misfortune, and varying forms of mental health catastrophes. Yet... I hated to put it down. Performance is really annoying at first, but either the whine becomes less noticeable as the story picks up, or is abandoned altogether.

Unexpected Plots and Twists

I started out not liking the story at first but once I really paid attention and learned more about Eden I really didn't want to stop listening. There are twists throughout the plot and the story slowly unravels to the truth and boy is it shocking.

great book

What did you love best about Secret Lives?

this was easy to follow even with the story going back to reading of the book and back to present. there are several things going on but it keeps you wanting to did it

What was one of the most memorable moments of Secret Lives?

finding out who the child molester is

What about Johanna Parker’s performance did you like?

expressive voice

Engaging and wonderful story

This wasn’t one of my first picks but I am certainly glad I found it. The characters are very unique and interesting and a good plot line. Diane has a wonderful way of connecting the reader with her characters - they are very real and I was captured from the beginning. An unusual story line but nonetheless the characters were very believable and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Good multi-layered book

I enjoyed this book even though as others have mentioned, the incestuous relationship is icky. I don't want to read about family members professing their romantic love for each other, but other than that it was a page turner.

What a Story!

If you could sum up Secret Lives in three words, what would they be?

WTF

What was one of the most memorable moments of Secret Lives?

When she finds out the truth about her father.

Have you listened to any of Johanna Parker’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Never listened to her before but she is wonderful.

If you could take any character from Secret Lives out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Not sure if I would want to dine with any of them. Would love to go for a long walk and they would have my undivided attention.

Any additional comments?

Quite a book full of twists and turns. It was so interesting that I ended up painting the grout in my entire house just to listen to this book. (I only listen to books while commuting, working out or doing housework or yardwork.)

Secret Lives

I was ready to return this book at Chapter 6 due to the Narrator speaking so fast! Drove me crazy! But I’m a true Diane Chamberlain fan and kept going. It gets better and her narrative is not consistently fast but I’ll avoid her in the future! The story line is very good and always around Virginia which I enjoy. It’s worth the read!!!! Get past chapter 6!!

Not her best

It wasn't her best book. It had some good parts and some VERY
cringe worthy moments