Seven For A Secret

by Judy Astley

SCANDALOUS SECRETS SET A PEACEFUL VILLAGE ALIGHT... It was Heather's silver wedding anniversary. But this important milestone did not relate to her marriage to Tom, her often-absent airline pilot husband and father of their two teenage children. It was for her first marriage - a wildly romantic, secret affair, when, at 16, she and Iain - twelve years her senior and the heir to a Scottish baronetcy - had eloped immediately after her final school speech day. The marriage had not lasted twenty-five weeks, let alone years and it was As If It Never Happened. But secrets have a habit of coming out, and when a film crew arrives in the attractive Thamesside village where Heather and Tom live, Heather is horrified to find her ex-husband amongst them. As Heather and Iain meet again, many secrets jostle to be revealed, including Tom's own highly secret life. Heather, her daughter Kate and her mother Delia are all forced to reveal things which they never thought would need to be revealed, and their peaceful Oxfordshire village community rocks with speculation and scandal...

Genres: Fiction

285 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Judy Astley started writing in 1990 following several years of working as a dressmaker, illustrator, painter and parent. Her sixteen novels, the most recent of which are Laying The Ghost and Other People¹s Husbands, are all published by Transworld/Black Swan. Judy¹s specialist areas, based on many years of hectic personal experience, are domestic disharmony and family chaos with a good mix of love-and-passion and plenty of humour thrown in. Judy has been a regular columnist on magazines and enjoys writing journalism pieces on just about any subject, usually from a fun viewpoint. She lives in London and Cornwall, loves plants, books, hot sunshine and rock music (all at once, preferably) and would happily claim that listening in to other people¹s conversations is both a top hobby and an absolute career-necessity

Reviews

[Ari Damoulakis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The reason why I like this book and other books by Judy is because they are what I like calling ‘realistic’ fiction where people just live their daily lives and go about their boring tasks and then the novel just has a tiny bit of family or people drama. I like these sorts of books because they are boring in a good way.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

No real conclusion

The book is really more of a character study than the romance novel it is marketed as. We are left hanging at the end, but I am not as annoyed about this as I might normally have been because it doesn’t really matter. These people are who they always have been and always will be.

The book has a publication date of 2011, but the number of odd anachronisms in it make it seem much older. The middle-aged woman's memories sound more like her mother's than hers (no color TV 25 years previously?), and her mother's attitudes are more like a generation or two before hers. Very few women in their 40s have parents who were young in WW 2. Things like this kept pulling me out of the story.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid story, a bit dated, but with no satisfactory conclusion unfortunately. I’d forgotten that this author writes about rich, posh people.
I loved the mentions of oatmeal soap and oatmeal buffing lotion.
Tom, the husband, has been h affairs with the male cabin crew. Kate, the 16 year old daughter, went off with the ex husband to fly to Barbados. Or did she?

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

"At 16, Heather eloped with a man 10 years her senior, but the marriage lasted only five weeks. Now middle-aged and re-married with teenage children, Heather is shocked when her ex-husband re-enters her life."

An entertaining read.

[MRS G C LEWIS · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lots of secrets but no substance.

I usually like Judy Ashley’s books but this one had a very strange and disappointing ending. Nothing was tidied up or explained. I just said “ What?? Is that it?”
Very miffed as it promised much.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hadn't realized how long ago the book was written. If my math is right, the story takes place in 1993. I enjoyed getting to know the characters, but was disappointed with the way the book simply stops without any real resolution to many of the subplots. 3½☆

[Tarquilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good bit of escapist reading

[Julie Dunnett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can’t believe that I enjoyed reading this many years ago. Uncomfortable reading. I don’t think I could forgive my husband for an affair with an air steward so easily.

[Sandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I so enjoyed this book (read it a few years ago). "Muddy Waters", by the same author, didn't catch my attention as quickly but grew to be a good read. Will try more by Judy Astley.

[Lynne Easy · Rating 2 out of 5]

An easy read, nice for holiday read but didn't hold me really!

[Sudha Shree · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pathetic! Boring!

[Bex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always look forward to reading this author's books. Never disappointed. They make me smile. My only trouble is when I finish it...There are no more to read as I've read them all!

[LindyLouMac · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read in 1997