Season of Secrets - Sally Nicholls

Season of Secrets - Sally Nicholls

Pages: 254
Publisher: Marion Lloyd Books
Release Date: 6th April 2009

Other Titles by This Author: Ways to Live Forever

On a wild and stormy night Molly runs away from her grandparents’ house. Her dad has sent her to live there until he Sorts Things Out at home.

In the howling darkness, Molly sees a desperate figure running for his life from a terrifying ,midnight hunt. He has come to help her. But why? And who is he?

Season of Secrets weaves the tale of a heartbroken child and an age-old legend into a haunting story of love, healing and strange magic.

Having loved Sally Nicholls’ debut novel Ways to Live Forever, I had high expectations for Season of Secrets. It didn’t disappoint me.

Sally Nicholls weaves tales of myth and magic into Molly’s story in a way that you doubt the story would be without them. The legends of the Oak and Holly King’s, the Greek myth of Persephone and Loxi, the evil Viking god, all tie in with elements of Molly’s life and feelings and help her to deal with the turns her life has taken.

Books are a very prominent feature in Season of Secrets. Molly’s relationship with books is very similar to mine. She gets lost in stories of magic and mystery as a way to escape and also cope with the changes in her life. They are devoured one after another and she often expresses her wish that books were real and that she could disappear into any story she wanted. This is one of the main reasons that I understood Molly the way that I did.

Aside from the myth and magic, there were heavier issues dealt with in Season of Secrets. Death, not fitting in and sibling rivalries were the backbone of the story. It was told in a child’s mindset and some of the things that she said were said in a plain, logical way that was heartbreaking. One particular passage stuck with me, ‘Going on to someone’s land isn’t nearly as bad as abandoning your daughters, and that’s what Dad’s done to us. And he got away with it.’ It makes perfect sense but as I read those lines I automatically tried to explain it, but I still think that Molly is right. I wish I still had that childlike logic; I could get away with anything!

This is a beautiful book for both children and adults that reminds you to look for the magic all around you, whether it’s in spring flowers, stories or a midnight hunt with a magical king.

Sophie