Tatiana De Rosnay has an impressive pedigree: Russian, French and English forebears prominent in theater, science, diplomacy and science. She has published 10 novels in French; the bestseller Sarah's Key was her first in English, which is her native language. She lives in Paris, as she has for much of her life.
The setting of A Secret Kept is Paris and Noirmoutier, a seaside resort a few hours away. Antoine, 43, and Mélanie Rey are brother and sister. For her upcoming 40th birthday, Antoine has decided to surprise Mélanie and take her back to Noirmoutier, an island they have not visited for more than 30 years, ever since their mother died. She has recently broken up with Olivier, her lover of six years, and is unhappy over that, wondering if she will be alone for life. Antoine, affectionately called Tonio, is absolutely wretched because his much-loved wife blindsided him and walked out just about a year ago, with a younger man. Two of his three children are teenagers, sullen when they aren't surly, constantly plugged into an electronic device. Lucas, his youngest, is moving dangerously close to that zone and Tonio is in despair, wondering if he will ever have anything like a conversation with them again. A successful architect, he loved his work, but even that has lost its savor.
These two dolorous people embark on a long weekend holiday, unfit company for each other or anyone else. Can this excursion be saved?
They check in to the very hotel where they stayed as children with their parents, grandparents and Aunt Solange. The last time they were there was the summer before their mother died. Inevitably, they are inundated with memories; happily, most of them are good ones, until the last night. Suddenly, Mélanie becomes restive and silent. She cannot--or will not--tell Tonio what is bothering her. Next morning, they leave and, while she is driving, she tries to tell him something that she remembers from that last summer, something about their mother. She's so upset that she loses control of the car and ends up in hospital, badly injured and initially unable to remember what she was about to divulge. During her recovery, Mélanie recalls the secret long kept and recounting it has a profound effect on both their lives.
De Rosnay portrays a complex family, rife with people unable to connect or communicate in any meaningful way. Finally, when all that follows from that fateful weekend causes past and present to meld, Tonio and Mélanie are able to move forward with clarity, made stronger by knowledge and acceptance of information crucial to both of them. --Valerie Ryan
Shelf Talker: A 40th birthday weekend finds a brother and sister on the idyllic island where they spent the last summer before their mother died. Familiarity, nostalgia and sudden recollection combine to clear clouded memories and change both of them forever.