“… loneliness worked its way through me. The kind of loneliness that lingered.”
Elsa has faced a lot of loss in her life, but loneliness is something new that she faces. Her grown daughter is heading off to live in Russia for a year. Her elderly mother lives with her but their relationship has never been great and since her mother refuses to wear a hearing aid, they barely converse. When she faces another loss, she realizes she must let her daughter know about a family secret – in person – so she heads to visit her in Russia.
I read Linda Smolkin’s first book, Among The Branded, and enjoyed the book. Smolkin let me know about her second novel, The Secret We Lost, and I added it to my to-read list. It was a good book to pick for the adult summer reading program at the library to fill the “book you own but haven’t read yet” category.
The man sitting next to Elsa on her flight gives her his number and wants to meet with her in Russia. She agrees and enjoys the date. However, she doesn’t think anything can realistically work out between them as he lives in London and she in New York. When Elsa tells her daughter the family secret, she soon finds out her daughter has news of her own. Neither women react to each other’s news well and Elsa heads home with a heavy heart. She is finally open to hearing the suggestion of getting counseling to deal with the losses she has suffered. Can she learn enough to start living in the present?
The themes of love and loss, mother/daughter relationships and learning to live a full life are all found in The Secret We Lost. Elsa’s thoughts are easy to follow and I read the book in just a few days. It’s a great summer fiction read and I would recommend it to any adult looking for a good fiction novel that addresses some concrete life lessons. I look forward to Smolkin’s next novel.