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Secret Keepers Audiobook
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(3.04) - 165 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
With her second novel, Mindy Friddle expertly takes the conventions of a typical Southern dynasty story and transforms them into something wholly original. When her husband dies on the eve of their impending European vacation, housewife Emma Hanley watches her dreams of world travel vanish even as she becomes more immersed in the lives of her two living children. "Friddle's beguiling second novel is a poignant and reassuring tale of regret and redemption."-Booklist
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"First off I have to say how much I love this cover! I love anything vintage and having to do with gardening, not that I am a great gardener. This book begs to be read on a front porch or in a garden gazebo while drinking a glass of sweet tea. It is a quiet southern fiction book about a family coming to terms with changes in their lives. We meet Emma Hanley who at age 72, is getting ready to take of on a trip of a lifetime with her husband, Harold and mentally ill son, Bobby. Her husband has an accident that takes his life and changes Emma's life. Her daughter, Dora and her husband, Donny have very different plans for Harold's funeral but Emma has her mind set and does things the way she sees fit. Of course this starts a family battle. Donny and Dora belong to a very zealous church set up in a mall built on property once belonging to Emma's grandfather. I can't say how many times I found myself laughing at the shenanigans that go on in this mall where all the stores are involved around the church. When Jake, Dora's high school sweetheart decides to open up his own landscaping business in town things get very interesting. Soon he realizes he needs help and hires an unlikely bunch of characters; Gordon, a homeless veteran, Kyle, Emma's rebellious grandson who hates his parents and Bobby. Soon secret, magical plants and lifetime secrets are revealed. If you enjoy southern fiction and dysfunctional quirky families then I think you will enjoy this book. There is a nice balance between the story and a hint of magic that is not overdone."
— Beth (4 out of 5 stars)
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“With fluid prose and telling details, Friddle deftly captures the downward pull of the past and the Southern penchant for mythmaking; transcending the easy stereotypes of Southern dysfunctional family sagas, Friddle’s clan is a genuinely quirky lot with its own unlikely ideas of happiness.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“Beguiling…A poignant and reassuring tale of regret and redemption.”
— Booklist
Secret Keepers Listener Reviews
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" Picked it up on a whim, liked it. Sweet and well written. "
— Shay, 2/20/2014 -
" Slow at the beginning, but the characters really gripped me at the end. "
— Karenzielinski, 2/8/2014 -
" Entertaining. Pure drama. "
— Laura, 2/1/2014 -
" Liked her previous novel, The Garden Angel, much better, but this was nice. Some of the characters were larger than life stereotypes (the daughter's husband, for example) which kind of annoyed me. But, again, a good, easy read. "
— Jeannine, 1/29/2014 -
" I loved The Garden Angel and I really enjoyed this book, too. I could sure identify with Emma Hanley in Palmetto, GA and all the town's character. Kind of mystical, like Alice Hoffman. "
— Fran, 1/18/2014 -
" An enjoyable easy read with flawed but likeable characters. I think it will make my list for summer reading. "
— Ptaylor, 12/29/2013 -
" This took probably 50 pages for me to get into, but it was an excellent, unpredictable story. "
— -r-, 12/5/2013 -
" I found this love story interesting in the fact that it shows that wild crazy side of our teenage years and how people and we ourselves try to change and fit our surroundings as we get older. This does not always work out as we planned. I enjoyed this bookQ "
— Denise, 11/27/2013 -
" Pretty good book. It's an ebook from Net Library and it was interesting enough to want to keep listening. "
— Karen, 11/22/2013 -
" Emma is waiting for a trip she has been planning for years, then unexpected events cancel her trip.......this was an ok story lots of strange things happen. I was hoping to enjoy this book more than I did but still glad I read it. "
— Claudia, 10/22/2013 -
" This was a great book! Lots of drama. I really enjoyed the plot. "
— Lauren, 9/25/2013 -
" Emma Hanley plans to escape her small town, Palmetto, South Carolina. But life gets in the way; daugther Dora, grandson Kyle, Sons Will and Bobby. "
— Diane, 8/25/2013 -
" Even though you don't really identify with any character in a novel, you can identify with certain characteristics during the stages of their lives. We live lives shaped by expectations, not necessarily our own. Emma sheds the burden of expectation and really begins to live a happy life. "
— Mary, 8/19/2013 -
" A quick easy read. A day at the beach kind of book. "
— Mechele, 8/18/2012 -
" Not a great book but not terrible either. This story was just kind of blah for me. "
— Shannon, 5/24/2012 -
" A rare treat. A beautifully written page-turner. I loved this novel. "
— Karen, 4/23/2012 -
" I don't even think I got past page 100. the writing was awful. I wanted to read something "nice" after finishing two books in a row about the Holocaust. The author seemed to ramble from one thing and one character to another. "
— Luz, 2/9/2012 -
" I loved this book! It has a wonderful storyline and all of us can relate to the characters. It is all about taking a different path and how we can not always change other people's life choices but we can change ours! Great read. I am definitely reading her other book, The Garden Angel! "
— Kathleen, 12/23/2011 -
" Emma Hanley is the main character in this book, however, gardener Jake & his crazy bunch of helpers steal the story. "
— Garryvivianne, 10/30/2011 -
" I don't even think I got past page 100. the writing was awful. I wanted to read something "nice" after finishing two books in a row about the Holocaust. The author seemed to ramble from one thing and one character to another. "
— Luz, 12/14/2010 -
" Emma is waiting for a trip she has been planning for years, then unexpected events cancel her trip.......this was an ok story lots of strange things happen. I was hoping to enjoy this book more than I did but still glad I read it. "
— Claudia, 6/23/2010 -
" Not a great book but not terrible either. This story was just kind of blah for me. "
— Shannon, 4/8/2010
About Mindy Friddle
Mindy Friddle is author of The Garden Angel and Secret Keepers. She writes, reads, gardens, and works in Greenville, South Carolina, where she lives with her family.
About Cynthia Darlow
Cynthia Darlow’s unusual voice makes her devotion to the spoken arts a natural fit. As a narrator and veteran of Broadway, off-Broadway, regional theater, film, and television, her characterizations and facility with dialects are unforgettable. Her audiobook narrations have earned her seven AudioFile Earphones Awards. She is a member of The Actors Company Theatre (TACT), whose mission it is to present concert performances of long-neglected, language-driven plays.