The Art of Secrets: (1 The Art of Secrets)

Reclusive, best-selling author, Charlotte Day, no longer has the passion to write. Wanting to boost her profile, her manager sends Emma Wade, a young freelance journalist to write a series of publicity articles. Suspicious of their motives, and with much to hide, Charlotte makes things difficult for the girl as Emma forces her to remember her past. Not that Charlotte shares all her memories, some are too painful and too precious - but something about Emma captivates her. Wrestling with her own secrets, Emma worms her way into Charlotte's life and is surprised to find she likes this ageing woman as they are drawn deeper into a tangle of secrets that changes the lives of both women. A compassionate look at love, loss and renewal from the author of Daniel and The Cornish Knot.

About the Author :
Vicky Adin is a family historian in love with the past. Like the characters in her stories, she too is an immigrant to New Zealand, arriving a century after her first protagonists, and ready to start a new life.  Born in Wales, she grew up in Cornwall until aged 12. Her family emigrated to New Zealand, a country she would call home. Vicky draws on her affinity for these places, in her writing. Fast forward a few years, and she marries a fourth-generation Kiwi bloke with Irish, Scottish and English ancestors and her passion for genealogy flourishes. The further she digs into the past, the more she wants to record the lives of the people who were the foundations of her new country. Not just her own ancestors, but all those who braved the oceans and became pioneers in a raw new land. Her research into life as it was for those immigrants in the mid-to-late 1800s and early 1900s gave her enough material to write for many years about the land left behind and the birth of a new nation.  Her first book, The Disenchanted Soldier, is the most biographical of all her books, inspired by her husband’s great-grandfather. For the rest, while the history of the time is accurate, the characters are fictionalised to fit with the events and happenings as they occurred. Vicky holds an MA(Hons) in English and Education and several reader awards. She is a lover of art, antiques, gardens, good food and red wine. She is an avid reader of historical novels, family sagas and contemporary women’s stories. She especially enjoys caravanning around New Zealand with her husband (her biggest fan) and travelling the world when they can, but also spending time with her family. She hopes younger generations get as much enjoyment learning about the past through her stories, as she did when writing about it. SOME WORDS FROM VICKY: Like the characters in my books, I have a passion for family history and a love of old photos, antiques, and treasures from the past. After researching the history of the time and place, and realising the hardships many people suffered, I knew I wanted to write their stories. Tales of love and loss, and of triumph over adversity. You couldn’t make up some of the life stories I’ve uncovered. My novels could be about your ancestors. While the names will change, the history of the place they came from remains the same. I wanted to write stories that brought the past alive for the reader as much as myself. Many of my characters have been fictionalised, but their story is no less faithful to the time. I particularly enjoy writing inter-generational sagas, inspired by early immigrant stories to New Zealand, linked by journals, letters, photographs, and heirlooms. I invite you to journey alongside immigrants as they cross the oceans for a better life, or follow their descendants as they uncover the long-lost secrets of bygone days. Become engrossed in The New Zealand Immigrant Collection, suspenseful family sagas uncovering the mysteries, the lies and the challenges of the past. Or delve into the secrets of the past in The Art of Secrets series dual-timeline family sagas about finding your roots. And NEW in 2025 - Sarah's Destiny, a heart-rending tale of enduring love in The Ancestors series. 

Review :
The art of great writing! ... Adin keeps a tight rein on her leading characters, their actions and reactions credibly grounded in genuine emotions. The change of tone from Emma to Charlotte, from young to old, works, helps the reader see behind the lies and half-truths they tell each other. Their progress from antagonists to friends is seamless, as the layers of the story peel back like petals, exposing the truth at the flower's heart. – Bev Robitai, author of Sunstrike ----------------------------------------- Louise de Varga 5.0 out of 5 stars A Must ReadReviewed in the United States on April 25, 2016 The Girl from County Clare, written by Vicky Adin, is captivating from the very first page. It takes you on a journey from the potato blight poor of Ireland in 1886, to Brisbane, Australia via one of the many boats carrying trade and passengers. Each character is realistic, with personalities retaining their own originality throughout the story. Adin weaves buildings and businesses of the period into the story so well you believe you’re right there watching the story unfold. From Australia the story moves to a small dilapidated building in Queen St, Auckland, New Zealand. If you enjoyed her book, The Cornish Knot, you’ll see that this story has reached another level of writing. I compare it to the Julie Thomas’ The Keeper of Secrets with its faithfully researched storyline. I personally believe it has enough merit to be considered as a movie idea. ----------------------------------------- Wendy Pettifer 5.0 out of 5 stars Brigid The Girl from County Clare Reviewed in Australia on July 7, 2019 Verified Purchase Brilliant book. Vicky Adin is a great narrator and you wanted to keep reading. Extremely interesting story from start to finish. Well worth purchasing the book. ----------------------------------------- Stephanie H. Hammond 5.0 out of 5 stars Well researched and informative about the time NZ extended the vote to women. Reviewed in Australia on July 14, 2023 Verified Purchase Lucy the Suffragist is the third book in Vicky Adin’s trilogy The Art of Secrets. Each book is styled as a dual-timeline family saga. Each is focused on finding one’s roots. The dual-timeline, as in the previous two, focuses on Emma in present day setting. Lucy, as the title suggests, is from the late nineteenth century. Both are in New Zealand. I like the way the plots in each book of the series give the author plenty of scope to develop Emma’s life and character. In this book Emma has been hit badly by Covid-19. Long-Covid is a state many of us can identify with. During this time, Emma, a genealogist, develops a friendship with Paige, a young woman who is troubled by a family mystery. Through Paige, climate change concerns are woven into the story, making this more current and topical. The modern story line is developed through the interactions of the two. Emma’s skills in uncovering the mystery remind me of my cousin who was helpful in our finding more about our great-great grandmother. I have recently been on a journey finding my own roots so I am particularly drawn to this series. I find each book quite inspiring. The story of Lucy does not disappoint. The events and personalities surrounding the time New Zealand was facing the suffrage issue are woven seamlessly In the telling of Lucy’s story. Vicky Adin is skilled at merging these into the life of her fictionalised characters, so well in fact that I was immersed in the events as if I knew Lucy intimately. Some books with dual-timelines hop around between characters and time-frames, leaving me wondering which character’s experiences I’m reading about. Chapters in this novel are headed with the time period and I’m never left wondering where I’m at and with whom. Well done! I love a book that makes me care about the characters – and Emma, Paige and Lucy are definitely relatable to me. Other characters supporting the main ones, are equally relatable. I didn’t want the story to end, yet I was thrilled at the way their lives, Emma’s findings, Paige’s distress at the mysteries, and much more were resolved. Just as in real life, things don’t always end the way we plan, yet we can always work with what fate presents to us. In the 1890s, New Zealand was the first country to give women the right to vote. This is the fact. How the vote was won is not so well known. Sure, this is a fictionalised account, but Vicky Adin’s Lucy the Suffragist brings the struggles, fears, hopes and dreams of that era into focus in a way that we can make comparisons in our lives to struggles humanity faces still for equality, for our voices to be heard, for our differences to be respected. Vicky Adin’s writing engaged me from the beginning. Her skill in uncovering for us the story’s minor mysteries and clues along the way to the final reveal creates a nicely paced and readable story. I feel Lucy deserves the five-star rating. This book also deserves its place in my bookshelf alongside works by those writers, including this author, who extend my understanding of the human condition and give me hope for the future. ----------------------------------------- Robyn Pearce 5.0 out of 5 stars I gobbled it up!Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2019 I'm a big fan of Vicky Adin's stories. I've read three and will now be reaching for the others.. 1. She's an excellent researcher, and brings in fascinating historical detail. Even though I know a bit about the era and the locales she writes about, I'm constantly learning new information which adds really interesting depth to the fictional plot. 2. She's very adept at weaving fact and fiction into a well-constructed story. 3. If you're a lover of genealogical mysteries, this will suit you well. Of the three of her books that I've already read, this is the most complex with its genealogical strands. The reader has to work a bit to keep the family connections clear. I did get a little confused at times, but the strength of the story-telling kept me always engaged. I wholeheartedly recommend it.