Little Secrets explores the depths you might be prepared to go to when your life is turned upside down.
Our main character, Marin, is so removed from the everyday experience that it was hard to warm to her initially. The book opens with her Christmas shopping with a fractious four year old…then the worst happens. She loses hold of little Sebastian’s hand and he is gone. Over a year later there is no sign of him, and Marin’s relationship is under extreme stress.
For the situation alone I found myself wondering how this would impact her. Her stress, guilt and reactions to those trying to support her were very sensitively portrayed…and this sense of discomfort never left us. While the story of Sebastian’s disappearance begins the book, it is used as a way of introducing some of the little secrets to which the title alludes.
Quite early on Marin reveals she hired a private investigator…and she is shocked to learn that her husband has, for the last six months, been having an affair. The young woman concerned is not an anonymous figure – we learn a lot about her and her motivation.
This was a book I found myself quite absorbed by. Some of the hints given early on seemed like huge flags to me, and yet having an inkling of how this might end up didn’t put me off while reading. I enjoyed thoroughly seeing how the various strands played out, and my only gripe was that the final elements of the story seemed to get resolved rather quickly. This isn’t necessarily a read that’ll stick with me long after is read it, but as I was reading I found it captivating.