All My Secrets

All My Secrets is a gilded age novel by Lynn Austin. This is a Christian historical story that tells the story of the Stanhope women and their struggle after the death of son, husband and father. This story is told main through the mother's (Mimi Junei) and the wife's (Sylvia)point of

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view. Both women were forced into marriages with Stanhope men to retain heir place in society. The will of Arthur Stanhope the first is that nothing passes to the women in the family. The women find themselves in danger of losing their home and place in society unless daughter Adelaide finds a wealthy husband, regardless of her feelings for him.

This is such an amazing story. One that grabbed me from the beginning and kept me reading just to find out the background information on Mimi Junei and Sylvia. This story does cover many years and reveals secrets the women have held from others. I loved the character of Mimi Junei and how she felt so strongly about spreading the word of salvation and God. She is insistent that Adelaide follow her heart and not marry for money. As with the author's other stories, this one holds so much meaning and truth. I enjoyed watching the characters change and grow through out the story. The story is so well written it is easy to imagine the happenings, the beautiful landscapes and the huge rooms filled with impressive furnishings. This is a story that just tugged at my heart and kept me wishing for a life filled with love and not money for the three women.

I voluntarily received a complimentary copy of this book, t his is my honest review.

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Adelaide Stanhope had always lived the privileged life of the Gilded Age high society, that is, until her father's untimely death and the restrictions placed on the family's wealth by her great grandfather's will. Now there are hard choices to be made, choices made more difficult by the vastly

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different opinions of her mother and grandmother. The lives of these three women change as they learn many lessons over the next year, lessons readers of each of the story's represented generations could learn from as well.

This novel focuses on priorities: allowing them to be formed for us or choosing to form them on our own, determining what position one should have within their own priorities, and contemplating where and how God's will impacts one's priorities. These are meaty questions, ones Lynn Austin masterfully walks her characters through as they negotiate their changing circumstances. A secondary theme of how to live with or to move on from mistakes and hard feelings is equally well-handled. The story is beautifully written and is as entertaining as it is thought-provoking.

I am grateful to have received a complimentary copy of All My Secrets from Tyndale via NetGalley without obligation. All opinions expressed here are my own.

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Absolutely beautiful and wonderful! This author does such a phenomenal job of writing such rich characters that I felt like I had been dropped into their lives and was experiencing their stories with them. Each of the characters had realistic struggles and mistakes with powerful stories of

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forgiveness and redemption that made them feel authentic to me. The spiritual truths were deep and raw and did not feel preachy but were relatable and true. I thought that the history was very well researched and integrated, and it was easy to imagine each of the time periods as each woman recounted her story. There were unexpected twists and fascinating character connections that made the story hard to put down. I loved how each of the three women realized that their worth was found in God, and not in material possessions or the opinions of others. I loved how each woman found her courage and her purpose and legacy. This is a story that has stayed with me long after I finished the last chapter. I highly, highly recommend this novel and cannot wait to read the next masterpiece by this talented author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

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Over the last few months, I’ve been eagerly anticipating reading this book. Lynn Austin has long been one of my favorite authors, so whenever I see one of her new titles coming out, I do my best to get my hands on it. This one took me a little while to pick up before I was able to slip it into my

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reading rotation, but I started it with high anticipation. I’m not sure I’ve ever read a Gilded Age novel before, so that, too, added to my excitement when I picked this up.

Unfortunately, this book fell flat for me. Despite elements that I genuinely enjoyed, I found a good part of this book disappointing. Much of this book fell into the telling (not showing) writing style, and throughout the story, I struggled to connect to the characters. I did LOVE the grandmother; her perspective and old-lady tendencies (especially as regards her ever-present and ever-useful cane!) were a delight to read. But Sylvia and Adelaide were characters I never felt like I got to know properly; they felt much more reactive than proactive.

The historical narrative scenes were somewhat interesting, but I realized I was having trouble with those, too, when a tragedy happened, and my reaction was “Okay, so what?” Normally, I would have expected that scene to be a real gut punch, but it wasn’t…and that was disappointing, because that’s when I realized I couldn’t care less about the characters. I feel like if this book had been written as a split-time novel (rather than lots of flashbacks and narration), it may have been a stronger story.

I was also a little disappointed at the faith element in the story; the main thrust of the book seemed to be that we ought to follow our heart and marry for love instead of monetary gain, and there was no real mention of looking for the Lord’s guidance and blessing in building these relationships.

As I said, there were parts of the story I really enjoyed. The grandmother was a lot of fun, and I found the perspective on some of the major historical events (the Gold Rush, the Civil War, etc.) to be fascinating to read about. I love it when I can get to see different and new aspects of historical events I’m familiar with in the fiction I read! If you don’t mind books that are a little slower-paced, this might be a book you’d enjoy; ultimately, it wasn’t for me. I’m looking forward to Lynn Austin’s next novel; hopefully, that will be more down my alley!

I was given a complimentary copy of this book, and this is my honest opinion of it.

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It's been a while since I read a book by this author but this story has made Lynn Austin a must-read author for me! All My Secrets is the tale of three generations of Stanhope women who've known joy, grief, and heartache. All My Secrets is set in New York during the last years of the 19th century

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and Austin gives readers an excellent view into the lives of the wealthy and affluent families who lived during the Gilded Age. This was a time when women were dependent on their wealthy husbands, and most were content to allow this to happen! Most, that is, until Junietta Stanhope arrived on the scene!

This is a stunning story that I won't forget, and I'd love to see it made into a movie. If you enjoy historical fiction and Christian romance, please grab a copy of this book. I believe that you'll be as entranced as I was!!

I received a complimentary copy from the author and publisher. There was no obligation for a positive review.

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First sentence: Adelaide Stanhope sat at her father's graveside, as still and upright as the surrounding tombstones.

All My Secrets is a generational historical romance (of sorts). The stories of a daughter, mother, and grandmother are interwoven. The story unfolds in a series of storytelling

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flashbacks--a revealing of past secrets. The three women are at a crossroads (of sorts). Difficult choices remain to be made. Will they fight to keep their mansion and their lifestyle even if it comes at great personal cost? Sylvia wants her daughter, Adelaide, to marry for money--and quickly--before the rumors start to spread of their change of fortune. Junietta wants her granddaughter, Adelaide, to choose a different path, a different life, to hold out on marrying until she falls head over heels in love. Junietta sees the dangers of wealth. It comes with great responsibility, but it corrupts and taints. Adelaide spends time listening to her mother AND listening to her grandmother. What will she decide? And how will she feel about the secrets of her mother and grandmother?

I don't always love stories told from multiple points of view. But I found all three narrators (and their stories) compelling--for the most part. The setting is New York in the nineteenth century. The "present" day is 1898/1899. The past occurs many decades before--also in New York.

Faith does play a role in the story but not in a stuffy way.

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