A Secret Word: A Novel

Author - Jennifer Paddock ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Paperback Book item from Touchstone was reviewed on 7-Nov-2008.

Search ISBN:0743247078 offer from Abebooks or used books from Alibris. A Secret Word: A Novel Reference Book. Classifications : General AAS Qualifying Textbooks Custom Stores Specialty Stores Books Friendship Women's Fiction Literature & Fiction Subjects Books Contemporary Literature & Fiction Subjects Books General AAS Litera . Click the following link to view the cover of A Secret Word: A Novel.

Related topics: General AAS. Custom Stores. Specialty Stores. Books. Friendship. Women´s Fiction. Subjects. Books. Contemporary. Subjects.

1) Paperback Book A Secret Word: A Novel by Touchstone.
The novel A Secret Word, written by Jennifer Paddock is a book about three different girls; Leigh, Sarah, and Chandler that face realistic challenges through daily life.
The book is narrated by the three girls in their own point of views.
Leigh, Sarah, and Chandler were really good friends in high school, but when their friend Trey dies in a car accident that they feel they could have prevented they grow apart and go their own separate ways. Through the book you see each girl trying to cope with this burden that they each have inside them.
Chandler and Sarah have been friends since they were eight. They both play tennis together and get good grades. Their families are pretty well-off and they are both beautiful and theatrical. Leigh is the tough girl; she smokes and is completely different from Chandler and Sarah. She doesn´t play tennis and keeps pretty much to herself.
I connected to this book in so many ways but something I really connected to were, the feelings that each girl goes through after their friend died. I myself have had to cope with death. Although it was out of my control, I still felt many of the same feelings, such as sadness, anger, and grief.
There was one passage that I thought was very significant on page 12 it says: "Sarah and I walk in to the school, and I´m wondering how long it will take to forget this walk. It seems quiet. There should be commotion in the halls. Others saw what we saw but classes have already started, and are going to be late." I thought that this was a significant passage because this is what triggers the whole emotional aspect of the book.
This book is a fantastic story about friendship, family, secrets, growing up, and growing apart. This book is about how well you really know another person and the secrets that we keep from our friends, family, and most of all ourselves.
¤

2) Paperback Book A Secret Word: A Novel by Touchstone. A Secret Word is a wonderful book. I really liked the unique structure and the connections between the characters (especially the scenes between Leigh and Mr. & Mrs. Carey). I also liked the last chapter a lot, where the girls are in different physical places, but they all seem like they are in a similar place in life and moving on in a positive way to the next stage of life. I also thought there was a strong sense of place with Arkansas, D.C., Italy, and New York. The writing was energetic and poetic and honest. And the chapter with Savion Glover was incredibly moving.¤

3) Paperback Book A Secret Word: A Novel by Touchstone. While reading Paddock´s novel, I kept hoping it would get better. Sadly, it did not. Paddock began with a great premise for a story -- three girls brought together by a tragedy. However, poor narration, weak character development, and lack of actual story line made this book into the mess that it was. She tried to make the characters realistic, but was unable to develop them in a span of 15 years. She tried to intertwine three separate story lines in just over 200 pages, but wasn´t able to do that either.

I generally have a great appreciation for "chick lit" type books, but this was terrible. I didn´t connect with the characters. The characters did not connect with each other. I think that Jennifer Paddock got lucky that her publisher liked this book, because I did not find much in this novel that would entice me to buy another one by her.¤

4) Paperback Book A Secret Word: A Novel by Touchstone. This book was excellent--filled with heart and beautiful writing. It made me think back to what life was like in my twenties--the job that wasn´t what I thought it would be, the bad boyfriends, friendships that would come and go. I related to all the characters, but probably to Chandler the most, who is the main character. I look forward to reading more from Jennifer Paddock.¤

5) Paperback Book A Secret Word: A Novel by Touchstone. Jennifer Paddock´s novel, which is her first incidentally, is as powerful as it is beautiful. She taps into every emotion. The range is amazing, and partly because there are three main characters instead of just one, with three plots that overlap in unexpected ways, and at unexpected times. I thought at first that the character of Leigh was going to be my favorite. She comes from a working class background and has no father to speak of, has never met him, so all she has is her mother who works as a waitress at a catfish restaurant and then as a cosmetics clerk at a J.C. Penney´s (until she´s fired). So Leigh looks up to the more privileged characters of Chandler and Sarah. What Paddock does so brilliantly, however, is turn the tables on Chandler and Sarah. A family tragedy shatters Chandler´s perfect world; it humbles her, makes her more sympathetic, more empathetic, and the way in which she copes with this unspeakable loss is no less than masterful writing. Chandler is living in New York at this time, and she escapes her pain by going to a musical featuring Savion Glover, and he becomes her savior, with the cathartic art of his tapdancing, his music, his loud focus-grabbing noise. And then there´s Sarah, who I never thought I´d completely embrace, but the more you learn about this rich girl is that she is truly impoverished, even more than working-class Leigh, since her family is so dysfunctional, and since she can´t seem to find someone to love her. There´s no long-term relationship for her as with Leigh, or any short-term passionate ones as with Chandler. Sarah, because of her seclusion and depression, is perhaps the smartest character. But all the girls are smart, and they each make amazing insights throughout this magical novel that touch on every subject important to women everywhere. I read a lot, and this book is better than anything else I´ve read lately. Paddock´s A SECRET WORD is truly awesome. When you get to the end of the chapter called "Rhythm," when Sarah is holding the fragile blonde shell of a cicada in her hands and you realize what that empty shell is a metaphor for, when you realize how simultaneously smart and emotionally pure that comparison is, you´ll know that what I´m saying isn´t exaggerated. You´ll know you have happened upon a rare talent at the beginning of what I´m sure (and hope) will be a long, illustrious career.¤

6) Paperback Book A Secret Word: A Novel by Touchstone.

Jennifer Paddock´s incandescent debut novel spans fifteen years in the lives of friends Leigh, Sarah, and Chandler, beginning one fateful day in high school that forever connects them. While Leigh remains stuck in dead-end jobs in their Arkansas hometown, the more privileged Sarah and Chandler move to Manhattan, where Sarah seeks acting fame and Chandler struggles to make sense of her failed relationships, only to be sent reeling by an unexpected tragedy.

Sweeping from the Deep South to New York and interweaving each girl´s distinctive voice into a seamless narrative, A Secret Word is a luminous story of friendship and family, sex and secrets, growing up and growing apart. It is about how well you can ever really know another person and the secrets we keep from our friends, our families, and, most important, ourselves.¤

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 5-Dec-2008, 07432470789780743247078, 140-750-8X0-780-270-370-360-6UB-8

A Secret Word: A Novel, Book, Image © Touchstone

Search: Touchstone, Book Posters, Book Art