8 books based on stunning family secrets
It is a given fact in literature that a tragic and secretive family makes an amazing read. All across literature, there have been various books that center on people who have a dark family secret which often leads to everything falling apart. However, no matter how sad and gloomy the story is, it definitely wins the reader’s applause. After all what else one needs in a fascinating read but complex relationships, brothers-turned-foes and a deep lying secret?
Family is the building block of the society. It is supposed to be “good”, “loving”, “caring” and “affectionate”. But when exactly the opposite qualities are found in a family, it makes its way to pages of books. There is no doubt that books on family secrets are thrilling and exciting. Here is a look at 8 books on family secrets that everyone must read!
‘Middlesex’ by Jeffrey Eugenides
The book revolves around Calliope Stephanides, the narrator who is victimized from the instant he is born because of two family secrets: First, was born with both male and female genitalia but is never told this. Second, it was his grandparents who passed on the hermaphroditic gene when they married, and no one in Cal’s family knows this.
Pic credit: Fourth Estate
‘The Widows of Malabar Hill’ by Sujata Massey
The book is set in 1921 in Bombay. It revolves around Perveen Mistry who works as a solicitor for her father. She discovers that three widows have signed over their inheritances and she sets off to investigate the house the widows live in.
Pic credit: Soho Crime
‘All This Could Be Yours’ by Jami Attenberg
The book centers on Alex, daughter of Victor Tuchman, a power-hungry real estate developer and a bad man who is on his deathbed. Alex feels she can finally unearth the secrets of who he really was and what he did over the course of his life by interrogating her tight-lipped mother, Barbra.
Pic credit: Mariner Books
‘Everything I Never Told You’ by Celeste Ng
The book centers on Lydia, the favourite child of Marilyn and James Lee. Her body is found in the local lake. This sets James out on a path that may destroy his marriage, Marilyn is determined to make someone accountable and Nathan (Lydia’s older brother) is convinced that local bad boy Jack is involved. However, it is the youngest in the family, Hannah, who may be the only one who knows what really happened.
Pic credit: Abacus
‘Don't Let Him Know’ by Sandip Roy
The book revolves around Amit, who finds a letter addressed to his father, Avinash. The letter reveals the secret that Avinash lurks on gay internet groups at times, unable to set aside his lifelong attraction to men. Also, Avinash has no idea that his dutiful wife had once romanced a dashing Bengali film star, whose memory she keeps tucked away in a diary amongst her saris.
Pic credit: Bloomsbury
‘The Tenth Girl’ by Sara Faring
It is the story of Mavi, a bold Buenos Aires native fleeing the military regime that took her mother. She settles at the southern tip of South America in a cursed isolated school. However, soon one of Mavi’s ten students goes missing, students and teachers begin to behave as if possessed and one of these spirits holds a secret that could untangle Mavi’s existence.
Pic credit: Square Fish
‘Small Days and Nights’ by Tishani Doshi
The novel is about Grace, who escapes her failing marriage and returns to Pondicherry to cremate her mother. However, once there, she finds herself an heir to an unexpected inheritance and then she discovers Lucia, her sister she never knew she had.
Pic credit: Bloomsbury Circus India
‘Girl in White Cotton’ by Avni Doshi
The novel centers on Antara, whose mother, Tara, decided to walk out on her marriage to follow a guru while living on the streets like a beggar. But when Tara starts losing her memory, Antara searches for a way to make peace with their shared past, a past that haunts them both.
Pic credit: Fourth Estate India