Mindy Friddle

I liked Secret Keepers much more than the deceptively quiet portrait of flowers on the covers lead me to hope. It's a book about life, mental illness, death and sex where the most graphic descriptions are botanical and entomological: a botanist discusses "the brazen ruses of orchids to lure pollinators... You've never seen such commitment to living...to multiplying. It never ceases to amaze me the shows they put on. All that finery to entice pollinators. Flowers are scented, glowing, show more magnificent reproductive organs."
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Or, regarding Japanese beetles, "Jake dug out two of the shiny green beetles, their spurred legs clasped together in insect ecstasy. Curling themselves up in the pink petals, like sultans in silk...he flung them--still stunned with pleasure--out into the grass."

The flowers are all perfect and beautiful and have glorious sex lives; the people labor through their imperfections: schizophrenia, religious obsession, guilt, back pain, alcoholism, suicide, bankruptcy, regret, Christian consumerism, even a mention of thalidomide. Friddle uses the word "clot" four times to describe things which are physically quite unclot-like: light and clouds. I wonder if that is to further distinguish the plodding, conflicted mammals from the single-purposed and radiant lower orders.

Imperfect and conflicted as they are, these people are so appealing, I miss them now that they're gone. The book is full of guilt and humor and perfect perceptions. A teen age boy tunes out "God (who) watches you all the time and knows exactly what you're up to -- like a CIA Santa Claus for adults." and his dad reads "The Nuts and Bolts of Nailing Down the Christian Customer" while his mom heads up "Firm Believers" an exercise class in the Christian Crossroads Incorporated a new center for "faith based commerce". A character remembers attending an anti war protest, "Oh, but the energy! The weed, the wine, the ecstatic anger. The idea something big and awful like a war could be stopped, that you could change things. Things changed all right. Nowadays, Hanoi Jane was busy with the whole aerobics craze, The new enemies were processed sugar and sloth. Trade your sit-ins for sit-ups. Go for the burn."

Plants grow, people change, every living thing dies. Secret Keepers looks in on some of their beautiful and painful secrets and follows a brief part of their lives. show less

Such an enjoyable slice of southern life complete with characters that still resonate with me. In her latest book, Secret Keepers, Friddle introduces us to Emma Hanley, 72 year old whose life is about to be turned upside down. When her husband Hal dies suddenly just before leaving on the big trip they were planning, Emma feel that her life will go on as uneventful as always; staying in and taking care of her schizophrenic son Bobby.

All that changes when her daughter Dora's first boyfriend, show more Jake, enters the scene to landscape Emma's yard. There is no more boring to Emma's life. Jake and his landscape crew, which now includeds Bobby and Dora's son Kyle, plant some exotic flowers that bring back special feelings and memories to anyone who smells them; feelings that show them what they have been missing in life. A little bit of flowering magic!

Friddle managed to transport me to Palmetto, South Carolina and kept me captivated with these memorable characters. I loved the plot threads of Dora's struggle with her ultra-controlling husband and her son Kyle's teen rebelliousness. These characters felt so real to me that I can still imagine them going about their new lives. Friddle manages to tie up all the threads neatly with a most satisfying ending. show less

This story has all the stereotypes of Southern literature: the decrepit plantation, the old matriarch, the headstrong daughter, the Bible toting pseudo preacher, the young boy straining between puberty and adulthood, and the faint hint of racial prejudice. I enjoyed the story immensely. Kyle, Emma, and Dora display multi dimensional characterizations. The minor struggles between parent and child, good and bad, and truth and falsehood present a life of conflict. Each individual selects the show more path to follow. The biggest message is that beauty is not always clearly visible, as in all the flower bulbs hidden in the ruins of the old family mansion. Friddle presents that message in the new love between Emma and Dr Burnside, the old love renewed between Dora and Jake, the new freedom of Bobby, and the new confidence of Kyle. show less

I received this book as an early reviewer copy from LibraryThing. I really enjoyed this book. It is funny, sad, touching and entertaining. It's about people learning how to change their perspective on things and making new and better choices for themselves and others with this new found knowledge. I enjoyed all the characters and how each one came to life for me. Even Donny, the holy roller uber controlling husband of Dora was interesting to me - although if I met him in real life I know I show more would just HATE him. I really can't say anything bad about this book - it's quite likable and the characters are all well fleshed out. Recommended for a nice fun read. show less