The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets - Eva Rice

...coming of age story. The inner teenager in me just likes to sit and watch a High school movie (as long as it is not gross our comedy) or read about an awkward teen becoming socially aware and and understanding themselves. The Lost Art if Keeping Secrets " by Eva Rice (daughter of the composer Tim rice)was no different. This charming novel about Penelope Wallace, an upper class girl growing up in 1950s England really enchanted me as it was a ...
...our heroine's (and narrator as the book is written in the first person) life. The book opens with Penelope's first encounter with the girl with the sea green coat who is to become her best friend Charlotte Ferris. We are introduced to her young beautiful widowed mother Talitha and her Teddy Boy brother Inigo,and also Charlotte's aunt Clare and her wannabe magician cousin Harry. The plot revolves around the girl's love for 1950s teen idolJohnny Ray ... more

I might be nudging 30 but I must admit I do love a good coming of age story. The inner teenager in me just likes to sit and watch a High school movie (as long as it is not gross our comedy) or read about an awkward teen becoming socially aware and and understanding themselves. The Lost Art if Keeping Secrets " by Eva Rice (daughter of the composer Tim rice)was no different. This charming novel about Penelope Wallace, an upper class girl growing up in 1950s England really enchanted me as it was a jolly good read.

The book centres round a year in our heroine's (and narrator as the book is written in the first person) life. The book opens with Penelope's first encounter with the girl with the sea green coat who is to become her best friend Charlotte Ferris. We are introduced to her young beautiful widowed mother Talitha and her Teddy Boy brother Inigo,and also Charlotte's aunt Clare and her wannabe magician cousin Harry. The plot revolves around the girl's love for 1950s teen idolJohnny Ray and Harry's infatuation with his ex girlfriend Marina.

The book is a delightful romp of a story. My first impression of it that it was a cross between Dodie Smith's "I Capture the Castle" and Enid Blyton's Mallorry Towers. This is a good thing as I love both authors. It is hard not to compare "The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets" with "I capture the Castle" as they both feature a poverty stricken heroine who lives in a tumble down grand house with their slightly eccentric familles. The Enid Blyton comparison comes across as Penelope is very upper class and uses words like "golly" gosh" "frightfully" and "delicious" . The book also has the Blyton trademark of a lot of descriptions of luscious tea and picnics. It is as if Blyon's characters such as Darrell Rivers and Sally Hope have left school and started going to parties and drinking champagne. This may be a valid observation as Eva Rice is a big fan of Blyton's work and has even written a Who's who Guide to Enid Blyton.

I loved the book as it was so easy to read. It's 453 pages and I think I read the last 100 pages in one day I was so enthralled to find out what would happen to Penelope and friends. I liked it as the twists and turns at times were obvious but there were little surprisers in store. Like "I Capture the Castle" it brought out a range of emotions in me. It was a jolly good romp which made me laugh out loud a few times. It was a lovely gentle old fashioned whimsical humour that suited my taste. However in parts the book left me really sad and feeling for the characters in the slightly quieter , darker moments. There were even some really thought provoking, pignant moments about the waste of young life in war as Penelope's beloved father was killed in World war 2. The key to the book's readability for me was the characters. They were whimsical, maybe some of them were slightly 2 dimensional but they were charismatic and charming. I really got involve with their lives and felt for them.

I feel the setting the book in 1954 is a good time to set a coming of age novel. The 1950s was the beginning of the teenager as we know it. The book portrays the mood of a new generation who wanted to chuck away the greyness of the difficult war years and wanted music and fashions that were alien to their parents. Eva Rice has researched the period well and really gave me a flavour of the beginning of the rock and roll era. I had my reservations about the accuracy of some of the facts in the book as Penelope's age does not quite work out as she is supposed to be 18 in 1854 but was conceived in 1937. Having talked to my father and Duskman's parent about the 50s I wondered if 1954 was too early for the beginning s of rock and roll and the whole Teddy Boy movement but researching it on the internet apparently it is spot on. The descriptions of life as a teenager in England in the 1950s are rich and vivid and I think anyone who was a teenager then will appreciate this as it will probably bring happy memories flooding back

On the other hand the time the book is set in is irrelevant as the subject matter is universal. We have all been teenagers and have been infatuated by someone. Penelope and Charlotte had Johnny Ray but for others it might have been The Beatles, Bay City rollers, Bros, Take that or McFly. For me it was Wet Wet Wet. In the book Penelope and Charlotte have tickets to see Johnny Ray at the London Palladium (an actual concert. Rice spoke to fans about the nigh so the event was portrayed accurately in the book)). The description of the lead up to the concert and the atmosphere in the building was so accurate it really took me back to July 2nd 1994 when I saw the Wets at Alton Tower for the first time. You can literally picture the excitement of the hoards of girls clamourirng for the attention of their idol. It really is heady stuff.

"The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets" may not be the most original or literary novel in the world Some might see it as period chic lit but I liked it a lot and would nominate as one of my favourite books I have read this year. It has a feel good factor to it with characters I genuinely cared for. If you are a fan of the coming of age novel give tis a try. I am sure you will be as captivated by this delicious little piece of whimsy as I was.

"The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets" is a Richard and Judy Book Club choice. It is widely available. I bought my copy from Amazon where it I on sale for £4.99.

ISBN: 0755325508 

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