Someone Else’s Secret

SOMEONE ELSES SECRET was not like anything else I have read. My feelings upon finishing the book are not so much conflicted, as polarized. What I liked about the book, I REALLY liked. What I didn\’t like, was serious enough, to dock it down to three stars. I\’ll start with the good, but first, a warning: if you are bothered by sexual content, you will need to pass on this one. The Good Stuff: This story is current and parts of it are disturbingly similar to what we saw played out on television recently, during coverage of the Harvey Weinstein trial. This story is extremely relevant and explains perfectly why victims of sexual assault respond in ways that seem to go against their own self interest —ways that seem illogical and cause others to doubt their allegations. If you can\’t figure out why a woman would wait years to accuse someone of rape, or continue to socialize with her rapist, after the fact….look no further. After reading this book, the answers to those questions will be obvious. The author of SOMEONE ELSES SECRET is really talented. Julia Spiro captured the absolute essence of what it is like to be young and female. if you just want to understand what girls are like between the ages of 14 and 22, or you lived it and have forgotten, this book is the only guide or refresher you\’ll ever need. The inner turmoil and ANGST of the two narrators, 14 year old Georgie and 22 year old Lindsey are so spot-on perfect, that it made me remember things i hadn\’t thought about in years. Those memories aren\’t pleasant because young girls, on the brink of becoming women, who are trying to figure out their place and role in the world, live lives of near-constant inner turmoil. Angst is a perfect word to summarize the internal thoughts of the two narrators, myself at that age, and every \”coming of age\” girl i\’ve ever known. Angst plays out like this: lack of self confidence; the yearning to be \”all grown up\”, and to be seen that way by others; many mortifying humiliations, magnified well out of proportion (probably mostly unnoticed by others); Over-thinking EVERYTHING; analyzing everything, trying to determine hidden meanings and motivations of others when interacting. It is exhausting and, I think, very typical. The emotional lives of Georgie and Lindsey felt so familiar, and were filled with such uneccessarily harsh, self inflicted drama, it made me squirm for them, and myself, at that age. The author perfectly captures the shame women, especially young women, have about their bodies: the swimsuit coverups, the towels wrapped around waists, the baggy clothing used to hide themselves. Lindsey is very large breasted, which brings her a lot of unwanted male attention. It also brings her unwarranted female resentment. There is nothing she can do to stop it. I didn\’t have a close girlfriend who was endowed with extremely large breasts, until I was 30. I remember being shocked by the way men reacted to her. We would go out for drinks and they would not leave her alone, they practically salivated over her and made sexually charged innuendos. I had never seen this dynamic played out before and I was shocked by it. All that unwanted attention made me realize how thankful I was NOT to be big breasted. My girlfriend had had years to learn how to navigate what was her unavoidable reality: inappropriate sexual comments and touches by strangers, CONSTANTLY. This is Lindsey\’s reality, and she is just learning to navigate it. She is constantly jockeying her physical environment to keep men from making a move on her, or otherwise doing or saying something inappropriate. She already knows that they will be embarrassed by it later, and will ultimately resent her, or blame her, either for rejecting them, making them feel foolish, or both. There is no shortage of pitfalls when it comes to being young and female; this author nails it. Now for the bad.: SOMEONE ELSES SECRET is slow. It is based on emotion. There is very little action. Some of it feels repetetive. All that inner turmoil gets tiresome. it is almost entirely about the complicated inner lives, angst and out of proportion (realistic, just not all that interesting) turmoil experienced by two likeable, realistic characters, over one hot summer spent on Martha\’s Vineyard. As most people already know, hanging out with teenage girls gets old pretty darn quick. I liked the book, but I didn\’t love it.

I always feel conflicted when choosing my Amazon First read for the month – yet this month it was easy. There was something about ‘Someone Else\’s Secret’ -Julia Spiro\’s debut novel that just grabbed me. Fun and thought provoking, there is something timeless about the tale with it’s themes of ambition, friendship and a coming-of-age read. Lindsey is going nowhere after graduating college with an Art major and no job on the horizon when a professor sets her up with a nannying job for the summer for the rich and prominent Decker family. With strong connections to the art world, it’s not the job she wants but an offer she can’t refuse… Georgie is the Decker\’s fourteen year old daughter who is moody, hormonal and doesn\’t want to have to answer to Lindsey. Georgie is experiencing all of the normal teenage angst and doesn\’t have any friends as well as being jealous of Lindsey. Things move along as expected and then something happens one night to shake her and Georgie to the core… Ten years go by when things finally are revealed and Lindsey has to make a major decision that could change her life… This book is a must read. I could not put it down, literally read it in one day. The story has lots of teenage angst, jealousy and a brutal incident that changes lives forever. The suspenseful storyline will keep you eager to find out what happens next… 5 stars. I am a verified purchaser in Australia

I’ve gotten through the first 20 pages of the Kindle version of this novel; and I just can’t go any further. It’s that bad. Poorly written—amateurish to the nth degree—filled with characters who are one-dimensional or frivolous and self-pitying or whose actions just don’t make sense. Although the author struggles mightily to tell us what those characters think (and gives us a ton of “backstory” in the process), the thoughts described are not appropriate to the characters in terms of age, experience, maturity, etc. and thus are not believable. I am at a loss to understand why it’s being published.

Another 1980s-style soap opera pretending to be a psychological thriller. The protagonist, a 22 year old girl, does things that are harebrained, I keep yelling at my Kindle to stop, don\’t even think of doing it!

This is a must read in these times of #METOO, a story as old as the hills and yet as contemporary as it gets. It\’s finally coming to light why women are reluctant to report sexual assault and harassment. This profound story shows the long-term effects of such an experience on a woman\’s life and how it can continue to eat at her no matter how hard she tries to put it behind her. This shows a woman\’s pain of feeling powerless, hopeless and alone… what a woman will do to survive and how her life is stunted. Some reviewers have described this as slow, but I disagree. IMO the author did a good job of character development, both of Lindsey, as well as the teenage Georgie, and how the incident affected both of them. I would also disregard any DNF reviews as being unfair, because the last 25-30% was intense and I found I couldn\’t put it down. Many times I struggle with my First Read selection, but this month was an easy choice for me and I certainly wasn\’t disappointed. Definitely recommend this one, especially with the times we are living in today.

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