Throw back Thursday is a tag that originated from Book Talk – its a way to remind ourselves of our old favourites and this week I am excited to talk about Throw back Thursday is a tag that originated from Book Talk – its a way to remind ourselves of our old favourites and this week I am excited to talk about The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice!
I absolutely adore this book. Set in the 1950s, this novel acts like a coming-of-age story about 18-year-old Penelope, a hopeless-romantic whose fantasies about American singer, Johnny Ray, keep her sane during the bleak penniless days of post-war England. Despite the fragility of her situation; her forlorn mother and the loss of her father, Penelope remains positive, hoping one day to meet the man of dreams. It is thus, by pure chance, that one day, whilst waiting for the bus, she bumps into the glamorous Charlotte Ferris. It is through this lucky encounter that Penelope is whisked into a word of hope, romance and riches like she has never seen before.
This novel is not chick-lit, despite its outward appearance. No. This novel deals with the guilt that proceeds the end of rationing; it deals with class wars and the anxieties of growing up and meeting expectations. It is also beautifully written and gives a fantastical element to the rock n’ roll fifties, in the sense that you want nothing, but to be transported into the pages.
