I Can Keep a Secret

by Sonja Cole Orentas

Genres: Literary Fiction

Synopsis

I Can Keep a Secret tells the tale of a mother and daughter who perceive themselves as starkly different but whose lives play out more similarly than they realize. Betty is presented as a severe woman, limited by her narrow view of the world and morality. Her bitter nature is well-tolerated by her doting husband, Deacon, but perplexing to her daughter, Charlotte, who, even as a child, struggles to understand her mother's caustic nature. Charlotte must learn to carefully navigate her place in the family as the one who has a natural tendency to ask questions and push boundaries, much to the chagrin of Betty and Charlotte's well-behaved sister, Pamela.

Over time, as Charlotte grows to adolescence and into middle-age, her experiences will often unknowingly parallel those of her mother's, yet the two are unable to bridge an invisible gap. This gap is much more than a generation gap, despite the radically different cultural age each has grown up in. It is sprung from the secrets and struggles each has kept and painfully carried over time.

Some secrets are difficult to keep forever. Betty and Charlotte will unexpectedly find themselves at intersecting life crossroads when a brief but intense period from Betty's past threatens to permeate the safe but not quite happy life she has created. Mother and daughter will be forced to grapple honestly together with new transparency.

I Can Keep a Secret does more than examine the way secrets drive our lives. It explores the longing to break free from the confines of our own life circumstances, the ways in which our earliest experiences affect the choices we make well into adulthood, and how fear can keep us from standing in our truth.

Release date: August 8, 2021

Print pages: 272