All My Secrets

By: Lynn Austin

Dakota County Library hardcover 369 pages plus author's note, acknowledgements, and discussion questions

Published: 2024

Genre: Christian historical fiction (gilded age)

 

Book club met to discuss this three weeks ago (June 24, 2024), but I was up at the lake and not too worried about finishing it on time. I finally finished it today. Austin is a fantastic author, but I couldn't empathize much with these ultra rich women and their dilemmas. Reading the author's note, I completely agree with the decision to have all three generations "heard" and not just telling the story from Adelaide's point of view.

 

Bouncing between "modern day" 1899 and young Junietta's past (1840s and 50s), young Sylvia's past (1870s), and thereabouts, we get to know three generations of Stanhope women. Junietta seems extremely elderly (ready for the grave), but the math says she's 68 years old. (She was 18 when she gave birth and her son is fifty.) She's interested in helping the less fortunate and steering her granddaughter to avoid the mistakes the older women made. Sylvie is Junietta's daughter-in-law and Adelaide's mother. She also has two older daughters who have married well. She is very reserved and her secrets don't come out until the second half of the story. Adelaide is young, pretty, and torn between doing what her mother wants (marry a rich man and carry on life as it has been) and following her dynamic grandmother's advice (follow your heart and live a life that matters).

 

For a book I didn't really enjoy that much, I'm surprised by how many post-it notes I have sticking out of it! 

 

Page 4: "Fear of family disgrace kept Adelaide, her sisters, and all their peers virtuous."

 

Interesting that a fear of family disgrace would be a motivator toward virtue. That's definitely an historic aspect of the book. I don't know that many people worry about disgracing their families any more. Behavior seems to indicate an indifference toward how people will regard them or their family.

 

Page  70: "Junietta was used to charging through life with energy and purpose. Being ill was so frustrating!" 

It is difficult indeed when physical limitations change your life. Junietta had some unspecified heart condition. I was glad when she finally moved from her third floor bedroom suite in the mansion to a first floor room! I couldn't imagine walking up and down all those staircases every day with a bad heart pounding hard!

Page 91: "'Now you can live a forgiven life. I believe Jesus told the woman, "Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more." That's the meaning of the word repentance. We turn and go, walking in a different direction.'"

I love how young Junietta connected with the Reverend Cooper and received his counsel. I love that he spoke life into her. 

Page 108: "'At the moment, not one of them is more important than encouraging Adelaide to think for herself. You only have one life, Addy. The decisions you make today will reap a lifetime of consequences tomorrow. And probably more than a few regrets.'"

Although I probably liked Junietta's character the best of the three women, I did have some sympathy for Sylvia. Can you imagine your mother-in-law living with you and giving your daughter advice contrary to your own?! Not fun.

Page 135 . . . Junietta and Meara found Helmut Steinhaus and learned the truth about Arthur Stanhope's background. It's not really worth quoting here, but I made note of it because secrets were the key theme of the story. Junietta eventually shared the secret with her husband, but he ended up being a ruthless jerk like his dad. Generational awfulness.

Page 138: "'Don't be doing that, Junie. There's no end to hate once it starts growing.'"

This time, it's Meara who offers wise advice. After they learn the truth about the elder Stanhope, Junietta says she hates him even more than before. Hatred is destructive. (I could make a Star Wars "dark side" reference here . . . )

 

Page 148: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The whole page . . . is a fantastic testimony from Reverend Cooper to young Junietta. I actually put two post-its in here! "Everyone alive is a sinner." "As long as we have breath, there's hope that repentance will bring forgiveness and lives will be changed." I don't have much to add to this. The absolute heart of the story. (Though Junietta blaming herself for David's suicide was heart breaking.)

Page 274: "What had I done? I remembered a Bible verse I'd heard in church about gaining the world but losing your soul and knew I had done that very thing."

 

Sylvia has determined to entrap young A.B. but realizes that he is NOT like his grandfather. I liked the unfolding of her back story.

 

Page 276: "'He was so handsome when he smiled,' Sylvia said. His face became more blurred in her memory with each passing day, obscured by the darkness of time and grief."

Memory is so interesting. Sometimes there are images that are really old but crystal clear. Other times, there are things one wants to remember vividly but they grow vague. Sylvia seemed to genuinely love A.B. and yet forges ahead.

Page 278: "But the stairs were the last straw. I'll be fine if I don't have to go up and down them anymore."

This was the point where I thought, "finally!" Junietta was struggling with her heart and yet going up and down those giant mansion staircases. Crazy! This was also the point where I calculated her age.

Page 287: "'I don't want to talk about dying, Mimi. And I don't want you to die.' 'I know. But if we remember that death comes to all of us, we'll pay better attention to how we live.'"

Junietta and Adelaide had a lovely relationship. I liked that Junietta was very aware of her mortality.

Page 289: ". . . Addy said, 'I can't help thinking about how many, many people's lives you've touched with your love, Mimi. It seems like a much greater legacy to leave behind than houses and possessions and wealth.'"

 

Yes, Junietta's life choices made a difference in other people's lives.

 

Page 299: "'Up until this year, my life has been so uneventful and routine that I'm finding it educational to visit these small villages and quaint churches. It's easy for me to forget that there's a world full of people who don't live the way I do - and yet are quite happy.'"

 

For much of the story, Adelaide seems so lifeless and pointless. It's nice that she finally starts having opinions and perspectives of her own. There's a big world out there!

Page 302: "'I think prayer is always good advice,' Addy said, then realized it was something she should do before deciding her own future path."

Howard Forsythe, the handsome young lawyer and son of a clergyman, is one of the best characters in this story. (I really liked Neal Galloway, too!) When he and Addy are looking for Junietta's son with Neal, they have some great conversations. Howard confesses that when her mother asked him for advice, he told her to pray. Not very lawyerly advice . . .

Page 303: "That's a wrestling match sometimes. I never experienced that struggle until I faced this decision between the law firm and the foundation. But the process of asking and listening and waiting often draws us closer to God. And I think that's what He's really after."

Adelaide is asking about how to know what God wants. Howard has a great answer!

Page 359: "'But one lesson that I had to learn, and that I hope you'll see as well, is that we shouldn't do our work because we pity the poor, or because we feel guilty for being privileged, and certainly not because we want to feel good about ourselves when we go to sleep at night. We must do it because our heart overflows with love for God. And because He asks us to love our neighbors.'"

Yes! Thank you, Grandma Junietta. I needed to hear this. Don't serve out of pity, guilt, or self-congratulations. Serve out of love for and obedience to God.

My goodness. It took me almost two months to read this book and several days to blog about it. The July book club meeting is in less than two weeks and none of my libraries has a copy to check out. (It was just published seventeen days ago . . . ) This does not bode well for my participation again this month. Donna Mumma's The Women of Wynton's sounds good, but between my desire to not spend money AND decrease my possessions, I don't anticipate buying a copy. (Though I could buy it and gift it to a public library . . . with my spending money.)