Review: The Secret of Lies by Barbara Forte Abate

The Secret of Lies by Barbara Forte Abate 

Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing, LLC 

Pages: 304 

Format: eARC 

Buy the Book: Amazon 

Goodreads:  Propelled by an insurmountable sense of desperation, Stevie Burke is recklessly abandoning home, husband, and outwardly contented life under cover of night; at last resigned to defeat in her long battle against the tortured memories of her past.

Days later, lost and floundering in a dreary motel room without plan or destination, it is a long ago song playing on the radio that gently tugs Stevie back through the dust of remembrance. 1957 - The last summer spent at the ancient house overlooking the North Atlantic. A season which had unfolded with abundant promise, but then spiraled horribly out of control - torn apart by a shattering tragedy that remains splintered in fragments upon her soul. And it is only now, when Stevie at last lifts her eyes to stare deep into the heart of her long sequestered memories, that the long held secrets of past and future are at last unveiled. 




Kritters Thoughts:  A story that poignantly centers around two sisters who spend each summer at their aunt and uncle's idyllic beach house that is mere steps away from a beach paradise.  They meet many people during the summer that in each way help them grow into young women until one summer where scandal and tragedy strike.  As I am not a spoiler of good books, you will have to read this one to see what tragedy these girls endure during one fateful summer.


What starts with a prologue full of wordiness, continues to a heartwarming story of two sisters who vacation on Long Island with their aunt and uncle and through the summers come to grow up and venture into young adulthood.  With the use of many big words, it didn't make the book read quite easily, instead I felt as though the big words weighed down the book, but once you passed the prologue and got into the heart of the book the extreme wordiness disappears.


I fell in love with these girls, their family and their story with each chapter.  It was so interesting to see how adulthood is completely shaped by the occurances that happen in their younger years.  It makes you reflect on your childhood and think about what happened then that may create roadblocks or change how you may interact with others into your older years.

Rating:  definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row


GR Cover Challenge 2012:  Heads or Tails

Ebook Challenge 2012: 1 out of 25