At once a captivating mystery, a love letter to classic literature, and a sharp-eyed examination of marriage,The Book of Secrets is a gripping novel of family, friendship, and the undeniable pull of the past.
After more than twenty years of marriage, Chloe Sinclair comes home one night to find that her husband, Nate, is gone. All he has left behind is a cryptic note explaining that he’s returned to their childhood town of Redbridge, California—a place Chloe never wants to see again.
Tending to their small bookstore while trying to reach Nate, Chloe stumbles upon a notebook tucked inside his antique copy of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Written in a code that Nate and his sisters created as kids, the pages contain long-buried secrets from her and Nate’s past, and clues to why he went back to Redbridge after all these years. As Chloe struggles to decipher the notebook’s hidden messages, she revisits the seminal moments of their youth: the day she met the enigmatic Sinclair children, their increasingly dangerous games a magical escape from their troubled childhoods; the first time Nate kissed her, camped out on the beach like Robinson Crusoe; the elaborate plan she and Nate devised, inspired by Romeo and Juliet, to break away from from his oppressive father, and how the thwarted attempt upended their lives forever. As the reason for Nate’s absence comes to light, the truth will shatter everything Chloe knows—about her husband, his family, and herself.
Praise for _The Book of Secrets _
“An exquisite novel . . .The Book of Secrets is one of those reasons some of us live to read.” —*The Star-Ledger_** _
“Tender and transcendent,_ The Book of Secrets* is about the truths we hide, the consequences we face, and the particular comfort we can only find in a good book. Elizabeth Joy Arnold has written a beautiful and haunting ode to the power of words, and how they shape our lives.”_** _—Sarah Addison Allen,New York Times bestselling author of _The Peach Keeper** _
“ The Book of Secrets plunges the reader into the strange and intense world of the Sinclairs, a family bound and pulled apart by the forces of imagination and religious belief. Through the eyes of Chloe Tyler, trapped in this world since childhood, Arnold paints a fascinating picture of obsession and loss. The Book of Secrets offers a complex meditation on the elusive nature of truth and on the power of secrets.” —Henriette Lazaridis Power, author of *The Clover House_** _
“This is the beautiful and heart-wrenching story about the secrets that can both hold a marriage together, and drive two people apart. Reading_ The Book of Secrets is like walking through a dark labyrinth: just when all hope is lost, you step out into sunshine.”*—Carla Buckley, author of Invisible
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__This eBook edition includes two complete classic works of literature that are referenced in The Book of Secrets : Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe!
Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader’s Circle for author chats and more.__
Review
"An exquisite novel...As the story wends on, secrets collapse onto each other...The biggest secret is revealed at the end and won't be spoiled here because "The Book of Secrets" is one of those reasons some of us live to read."--The Star Ledger******
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**"Elizabeth Joy Arnold's The Book of Secrets plunges the reader into the strange and intense world of the Sinclairs, a family bound and pulled apart by the forces of imagination and religious belief. Through the eyes of Chloe Tyler, trapped in this world since childhood, Arnold paints a fascinating picture of obsession and loss. The Book of Secrets offers a complex meditation on the elusive nature of truth and on the power of secrets."--Henriette Lazaridis Power, author of The Clover House
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**"This is the beautiful and heart-wrenching story about the secrets that can both hold a marriage together, and drive two people apart. Reading The Book of Secrets is like walking through a dark labyrinth: just when all hope is lost, you step out into sunshine."--Carla Buckley, author of Invisible
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__“An exquisite novel . . .The Book of Secrets is one of those reasons some of us live to read.”— _The Star-Ledger** _
“Tender and transcendent,The Book of Secrets is about the truths we hide, the consequences we face, and the particular comfort we can only find in a good book. Elizabeth Joy Arnold has written a beautiful and haunting ode to the power of words, and how they shape our lives.” —Sarah Addison Allen,New York Times bestselling author of *The Peach Keeper_** _
“_ The Book of Secrets plunges the reader into the strange and intense world of the Sinclairs, a family bound and pulled apart by the forces of imagination and religious belief. Through the eyes of Chloe Tyler, trapped in this world since childhood, Arnold paints a fascinating picture of obsession and loss. The Book of Secrets* offers a complex meditation on the elusive nature of truth and on the power of secrets.”_** _—Henriette Lazaridis Power, author of The Clover House* _
“This is the beautiful and heart-wrenching story about the secrets that can both hold a marriage together, and drive two people apart. Reading The Book of Secrets is like walking through a dark labyrinth: just when all hope is lost, you step out into sunshine.” —Carla Buckley, author of *Invisible____
About the Author
**Elizabeth Joy Arnold is the author of The Book of Secrets, When We Were Friends, Pieces of My Sister's Life, and Promise the Moon. She lives with her husband and daughter in Pennington, New Jersey, where she is at work on her next novel. **