So Many Secrets

This was not what I expected. I read it quickly, found I kept thinking about it and have just finished a re-listen. This powerful novella has so many secrets linked to race, class, motherhood, friendships, marriage - and how many secrets are continually subsumed to lead a comfortable life.

Irene is fascinated with the flamboyant Clare (who has been passing as white for over a decade), and I did wonder why the queer subtext was never explored more in the novella, but made more sense when I found out this was written in the 1920s. I am so pleased I carried on to the end, as the strained relationship between the two main characters gets, at times, uncomfortable.

Tessa Thompson narrates, and will be in the upcoming film adaptation.

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Trouble finishing

Had difficulty differentiating the different characters. Had difficulty finishing the story. I don't recommend it.

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Harlem Renaissance made accessible

It helps to know this is a story that was written for an audience segregated by class, race and sex. This is a book I never would have picked up to read, but I’m glad I stumbled upon the audio version.

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Interesting story

There was an interesting storyline hitting on some hard topics, but I found myself having to hit rewind multiple times due to my mind wandering. I just couldn’t keep myself into the narration so I’m glad it wasn’t too long of a book.

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2 people found this helpful

Interesting read

I was fascinated with the storyline and enjoyed it immensely. The Characters felt real and flawed, struggling not only with race related issues of the time but also the expected conformity and other societal norms. I will be recommending this book to friends.

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Story was interesting, the different voices bad

The story was fine and interesting to so the social, racial, marital, aspects of black, or biracial, women who look white during a time of segregation. It must be extremely difficult, even dangerous, to live in sphere that you could flow from one group of society to another that could result to assault, jail, death or being so ostracized that you cannot really belong anywhere. Plus, fear of what your children would be seems very mentally and emotionally traumatic.

The obsession for Claire was an interesting take due to it was a good build up that the author wrote. There are some people in the world who are manipulative.


The narrative was very difficult to understand who was Claire versus that of Irene, the narrator can speak well, yet, the differentiation was lacking on who was who.

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Harlem Renaissance Meets Southern Gothic

This story is gripping in its writing and it’s performance. The eerie, unsettling, but all-too-realistic portrayal of characters and and situations is amazing. I was hooked from the instant I started reading.

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Terrible recording

The legibility of the recording is poor. Between the performers variations in enunciation and volume, I keep missing things. The story has odd unexplained conflicts that are also distracting - the kind of thing a continuity person would flag in a movie. Between these issues makes the actual storyline less enjoyable. I’m not done yet but I’m also expecting what seems to be overwrought foreshadowing to add up to a narrative that makes it not worth the effort of getting through the other issues.

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