Based on the author’s own adventure-filled and fraught childhood and driven by her need to voice what remained unspoken, Family Secrets tells the story of one Air Force family over two generations through the sharply observant, sometimes cynical, frequently disappointed yet perpetually hopeful eyes of Carrie Witty, exploring how lives are shaped—and sometimes destroyed—by the rigid rules and unique challenges of military culture.
Rendered with sensitivity while holding nothing back, Family Secrets reveals the lengths to which those living with a hero will go to survive, the lengths to which a hero will go to make his country proud, and the steps those who want to evade military service will take. It also documents the ravages that undiagnosed, war-induced PTSD can cause while simultaneously showcasing and celebrating the valor and code of conduct of those who see the military as a guiding light.
Follow the Falcon takes readers inside the lives of those still living with the turmoil wrought by the Algerian War and the destructive colonialism that preceded it while exploring the highly topical theme of “otherness” in a setting about which little has been written. Particularly timely given the current U.S. war on immigration, the novel addresses the sins of the motherland and highlights the perpetual outsider status of immigrants, while also debunking the perception affluent foreigners have of Provence as an idyllic escape (the reality being far more complicated). Decades after the Algerian War, immigrants and repatriates in France from North Africa continue to feel the stigma of not being “French enough,” setting the stage for the unrest that lurks in the shadows today.
A universal story, the novel focuses on the effects a brutal war for independence has on its citizenry .
Both Family Secrets and Follow the Falcon are under representation with Christmas Lake Literary. For more information, contact tom@christmaslakecreative.com.