Arrivals: How long can a secret be kept?

by Brian Gallagher

When teenager Ciara Farrelly visits her dead grandfather's Ontario home she uncovers a secret from his childhood.

Back in 1928, twelve-year-old Mike Farrelly made friends with Wilson, a lonely, rich boy whose family had emigrated from Ireland, and Lucy, a feisty Ojibwe girl from a local reservation. The three spent the bright, warm summer holidays having adventures together. But then a murder was committed, and Mike, Wilson and Lucy found themselves in danger. Suddenly, they had to trust each other, not only with their secrets, but with their lives…

Follow their story with Ciara as she traces its echo down the years – and find out what really happened one summer, long ago.

Genres: Historical Fiction

243 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 11, 2016

About the author

Brian Gallagher is a full-time writer whose plays and short stories have been produced in Ireland, Britain and Canada. He has worked extensively in radio and television, writing many dramas and documentaries. He collaborated with composer Shaun Purcell on the musical, Larkin, for which he wrote the book and lyrics, and on Winds of Change for RTE’s Lyric FM.

His first book of historical fiction for young readers was Across the Divide, set in the 1913 Dublin Lockout, followed by Taking Sides, set against the background of the Civil War, and Secrets and Shadows, an exciting spy novel that begins with the North Strand bombings during World War II.

Brian lives with his family in Dublin.

Reviews

[rián o'kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

nice enough but I think I'm much older than the target audience
there's a bizarre insistence that characters in 1920s Canada whose ancestors migrated from Antrim in the previous century say things like 'my people come from Northern Ireland' when the partition had happened only a couple of years before the events of the book

[Claire O'Brien · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my 10 year old son's favourite book. It tells the tale of the unlikely friendship between three twelve year olds from different backgrounds in 1920s Canada. This first section of the story, dealing with bullies and social, racial and religious divides is interesting and well done, although obviously written for children. Then they decide to chase down a murdering gangster, and although it made for an exciting story it is rather over the top.

[Ilka Demmler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice story about friendship overcoming social division and how children are the better people.

[Patchwork · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway and I thought the premise of the story was really interesting, a young girl uncovering a mystery involving her grandfather as a child. The friendship between Mike, Wilson and Lucy was really well written and you could really sense the bond between them.

Although for myself it was slightly too young for my taste I think reading this at age 10-13ish would be perfect and I would have loved the story when I was younger.