The Language of Secrets
Rating * * * * ½
Review Date 4/20/2010
Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Doubleday (March 23, 2010)
ISBN-10: 0385530633
“Justin Fisher has a successful career as the manager of a luxury hotel, a lovely wife, and a charming young son. While all signs point to a bright future, Justin can no longer ignore the hole in his life left by his estranged family. When he finally gathers the courage to reconnect with his troubled past, Justin is devastated to learn that his parents have passed away. And a visit to the cemetery brings the greatest shock of all—next to the graves of his father and mother sits a smaller tombstone for a three-year-old boy: a boy named Thomas Justin Fisher.
What follows is an extraordinary journey as Justin struggles with issues of his own identity and pieces together the complex and heartbreaking truth about his family. With great skill and care, Dianne Dixon explores the toll that misunderstandings, blame, and resentment can take on a family. But it is the intimate details of family life—a mother's lullaby for her son, a father's tragic error in judgment—that make this novel so exceptional and an absolute must for reading groups everywhere.”
Wow, can you imagine the shock of coming home after years abroad to find that your parents are dead, your sisters don’t know who you are, and there’s a tombstone next to your parents with your name on it declaring that you had died at age 3. It would be enough to send you screaming into the night with the guys in white coats chasing you.
When I first read the book blurb, I thought –okay, he probably had a twin brother or something. Well, as you travel down the road in search of the something you will not be able to lay this book down. I found myself picking up this book while in the kitchen cooking (well actually waiting for water to boil). Any free moment, I grabbed it as I had to know what happened next.
At first I was a bit discombobulated as each chapter told the story from Justin’s point of view, both as a 3 year old and as an adult, and from his parent’s point of view. (Sadly, I’m one of those people who tend not to read the chapter heading; I just want to jump right in. Once, I realized I really needed to do that, it was so much more enjoyable.)
As the horror that was Justin’s young life begins to unfold, you just want to take that poor innocent child and hug him tight. Oh, and I can’t even express what I’d do to the sorry as*** that were responsible for his plight cause that would ruin the whole story.
Dixon has such a marvelous voice that made me forget that I was reading a story; I felt the pain and confusion right along with the characters. This is truly an amazing story within a story; it will not let you go. I hope to see many more books by this debut author. This one was a grand slam!
There is a reader’s guide included, which makes this an awesome book for book club discussions. It will definitely get you into some incredible conversations on family dynamics and the complexity of family secrets.
I won a copy of this book from Bookin' With Bingo and I'm so glad I did . I received no monetary compensation for this review. The thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are entirely mine and can't be blamed on anyone else.
