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All Our Secrets
A girl called Gracie.
A town called Coongahoola - on the dark foreboding Bagooli River.
Every small town has its good, bad, funny, sad - and sometimes terrifying.
They're mythologised and whispered-about by town gossips and other grown-ups until something happens to snap the past into focus.
And something always happens.
Things get weird in Coongahoola when 'a sighting' of the Virgin Mary attracts hundreds of 'Believers', who set up camp on the river bank and try to win local souls.
Things get scary in Coongahoola when the River Children - born nine months after the town's infamous River Picnic - are targeted by a vicious killer.
Gracie Barrett, the savvy storyteller for her chaotic family - promiscuous dad, angry mum, twins Lucky and Grub, Elihah 'the River Child', and prayerful Grandma Bett - believes there's a connection between the weird and the scary.
She is the voice for the kids who are taken, and for the lurking fear that locks down the New South Wales town and puts everyone under suspicion.
Funny, kind, bullied and anguished, Gracie's young life spirals out of control when she discovers what no one else the identity of the killer.
Coongahoola is where hope and fear collide, where tender adolescence is confronted by death, where kindness is a glimmer of light in the dark.
A town called Coongahoola - on the dark foreboding Bagooli River.
Every small town has its good, bad, funny, sad - and sometimes terrifying.
They're mythologised and whispered-about by town gossips and other grown-ups until something happens to snap the past into focus.
And something always happens.
Things get weird in Coongahoola when 'a sighting' of the Virgin Mary attracts hundreds of 'Believers', who set up camp on the river bank and try to win local souls.
Things get scary in Coongahoola when the River Children - born nine months after the town's infamous River Picnic - are targeted by a vicious killer.
Gracie Barrett, the savvy storyteller for her chaotic family - promiscuous dad, angry mum, twins Lucky and Grub, Elihah 'the River Child', and prayerful Grandma Bett - believes there's a connection between the weird and the scary.
She is the voice for the kids who are taken, and for the lurking fear that locks down the New South Wales town and puts everyone under suspicion.
Funny, kind, bullied and anguished, Gracie's young life spirals out of control when she discovers what no one else the identity of the killer.
Coongahoola is where hope and fear collide, where tender adolescence is confronted by death, where kindness is a glimmer of light in the dark.
- GenresCrime
276 pages, Paperback
Published October 18, 2018
3 people are currently reading
52 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Lane
2 books16 followersJennifer Lane lives in Wellington, New Zealand, with her husband and daughters, and feels equally at home in New South Wales, Australia, where she was born and Miracle is set. Her debut novel All our Secrets (Rosa Mira Books) won the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel in 2018.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 21, 2017
If there is one thing you'll come away from ALL OUR SECRETS with, it's the voice of Gracie Barrett ringing in your ears. It's an impressive portrayal.
There's something very worrying going on in the fictional town of Coongahoola, New South Wales. It's not just The Believers (or Bleeders as they are quickly nicknamed) - a cult led by the oddly charismatic Saint Bede. Long before they arrived there was the infamous River Picnic, on the night Malcolm Fraser became Prime Minister. Stu Bailey's wife drowned in the Bagooli River and there's a group of kids around town, all born around the same time, that don't look like their dads - everyone calls them the "The River Children".
Which never seemed to be a major problem for Coongahoola. Everyone knew and despite a bit of huffing and puffing about some childish pranks, most people seemed not to care too much. But then River Children start disappearing, and Gracie is worried for a lot of reasons. Her own family life is a more than a bit chaotic. Her Mum and Dad got married very young, Dad has moved out and seems to be continuing his pattern of relationships with a lot of women in town. Gracie, her Mum Nell, the twins Lucky and Grub, and her brother Elijah all live with Grandma Bett. Dad's mum, friend of Nell despite the marital complications, and the families constant in their slightly crazy lives. There's lots of love in this bunch of battlers, for all their problems they are a family - supportive, loving, caring, accepting and worried. Elijah is a River Child after all.
Told from Gracie's point of view, the tone and observations of a young girl feel absolutely spot on. Gracie's a good kid, bullied and anguished, she's funny, kind, loving and conflicted. She wants her family to stay together, Dad to come home and Mum to stay away from Saint Bede. She wants Elijah to be safe, but she's not too keen on the solution of shipping him off to relatives to keep him out of harm's way. She loves her Grandma even though she doesn't always get her, and she likes the town that she lives in, even if sometimes people can be a bit iffy. She's also somebody who isn't going to sit around and wait for a solution when things go pear-shaped. Somebody's killing River Kids and she's going to find out who it is.
Right from the opening lines you get an immediate feel for the tone of Gracie's voice and hence the book:
The first bad thing happened back when Elijah was five. Some people reckoned it triggered all the terrible things that happened later. But despite what they said, it wasn't Elijah's fault. He's my brother and I know everything about him, even that he was circumcised at nine months (thought that's not much of a secret - the fight Mum and Dad had afterwards was loud enough for the whole of Australia to hear). I know better better than anyone that he didn't mean to kill Sebastian.
(no spoiler provided as you'll find out very quickly who Sebastian is and what happened).
Author Jennifer Lane lives in New Zealand, was born in Australia, and has had short stories published before, but (I understand) this is her her debut novel. Sitting somewhere between something aimed at older teen readers (Gracie is 11, nearly 12 in this novel), and something that is very readable for adults, ALL OUR SECRETS is strongly voiced, has a great sense of place and character all round, and an excellent plot. It's an absolute gem.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-all-our-secrets-jennifer-lane
April 12, 2019
A young girl in a small town in Australia thinks she has problems at school until other kids start going missing - and turning up dead. As time goes by, the mystery deepens and fear causes everyone in the town to react in extreme ways. That's bad enough without a cult-leader and his followers being part of the mix. Will the girl's mother become another of this charismatic man's wives? And could he be the killer?
Accusations rise and fall, relationships blossom and die, and innocence is lost forever.
This is an extraordinarily well-told story. The voice of Gracie is distinct - poignant and hilarious in turn.
This made me laugh and cry and love all the oddities of the people in Coongahoola.
I thoroughly recommend this book.
Accusations rise and fall, relationships blossom and die, and innocence is lost forever.
This is an extraordinarily well-told story. The voice of Gracie is distinct - poignant and hilarious in turn.
This made me laugh and cry and love all the oddities of the people in Coongahoola.
I thoroughly recommend this book.
January 4, 2024
This is probably a 3.5 for me. I thought I was going to love it at the start, but it didn’t quite work. Can’t quite put my finger on it - two reveals at the end seemed a bit unlikely. But I did enjoy it.
April 9, 2019
All Our Secrets left us guessing who the killer was until the very end, with a cleverly revealed twist – you’ll want to read this with someone just to find out if they figured out who it was.An honest and authentic depiction of what was happening in Gracie’s world made us smile at her victories, feel her embarrassment during the awkward moments she faced, and ultimately rally with her as she braved uncertainty.
December 11, 2018
Clan Destine Press's new release, All Our Secrets, is set in the fictional small town of Coongahoola in NSW.
Set in 1984, the town is steeped in the consequences of a wild party on the banks of the Bagooli River in 1975 and the rush of children born nine months later. The father's of the River Children are not necessarily the men married to their mothers.
Nine years later, one of the River Children goes missing, his body turning up a few days later by the river. He is the first of a string of murders. One of the children who may be the next target is Elijah Barrett.
His 11 year old sister, Gracie, is our guide to Coongahoola. Through her eyes we meet her chaotic family, her town, the shock of the murders and her beloved brother.
Lane imbues Gracie with a realism that makes the young girl sympathetic and irritating in turns, though her innate kindness is her saving grace (as it were) even when she's not always making the kindest decisions in her attempts to fit in to the town's narrow social expectations. She is struggling with the estrangement of her parents, her sometimes embarrassingly religious grandmother, her crush on the boy next door and her anxiety from the usual array of schoolground bullying and snooty cliques.
Through this thoroughly believable child, Lane captures the personalities and quirks of the people of Coongahoola. As each child disappears, only to be found murdered, the net of suspicion is cast wide - from townspeople to the group of religious devotees who have recently set up camp by the river. The parallels between the personal chaos of Gracie's world and that of the whole town is clear: all the rivalries and jealousies, the in and out groups, the unfounded rumours and blame games.
All Our Secrets is a gripping ad perfectly paced story, balanced splendidly between Gracie's distress and concern for her family ad the fear experienced by the wider community as their children become victims.
It's no surprise to learn that All Our Secrets won the 2018 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel in New Zealand. Clan Destine Press has brought this fantastic book, with it's unusual and powerful point of view, to a new audience. Get it now to read a fresh new voice in Australian crime.
Set in 1984, the town is steeped in the consequences of a wild party on the banks of the Bagooli River in 1975 and the rush of children born nine months later. The father's of the River Children are not necessarily the men married to their mothers.
Nine years later, one of the River Children goes missing, his body turning up a few days later by the river. He is the first of a string of murders. One of the children who may be the next target is Elijah Barrett.
His 11 year old sister, Gracie, is our guide to Coongahoola. Through her eyes we meet her chaotic family, her town, the shock of the murders and her beloved brother.
Lane imbues Gracie with a realism that makes the young girl sympathetic and irritating in turns, though her innate kindness is her saving grace (as it were) even when she's not always making the kindest decisions in her attempts to fit in to the town's narrow social expectations. She is struggling with the estrangement of her parents, her sometimes embarrassingly religious grandmother, her crush on the boy next door and her anxiety from the usual array of schoolground bullying and snooty cliques.
Through this thoroughly believable child, Lane captures the personalities and quirks of the people of Coongahoola. As each child disappears, only to be found murdered, the net of suspicion is cast wide - from townspeople to the group of religious devotees who have recently set up camp by the river. The parallels between the personal chaos of Gracie's world and that of the whole town is clear: all the rivalries and jealousies, the in and out groups, the unfounded rumours and blame games.
All Our Secrets is a gripping ad perfectly paced story, balanced splendidly between Gracie's distress and concern for her family ad the fear experienced by the wider community as their children become victims.
It's no surprise to learn that All Our Secrets won the 2018 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel in New Zealand. Clan Destine Press has brought this fantastic book, with it's unusual and powerful point of view, to a new audience. Get it now to read a fresh new voice in Australian crime.
May 24, 2019
Gracie Barrett, the central figure in this novel, reminded me a lot of Scout Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird. In fact at one stage Gracie is reading the book. In some senses Gracie has a wisdom beyond her years, and in other ways she is naive in her acceptance of what is happening in the adult world. There is a deceptive complexity to this plot.
The first mystery to solve is what actually happened on the night of the River Picnic. And then, as the River Children born in its aftermath, begin to go missing and are then are discovered murdered, what is the thread that connects them? Why are these murders happening, what has triggered them after 8 years?
The town of Coongahoola is divided with the arrival of Saint Bede and his followers, and the followers become easy scapegoats to blame for the murders. Gracie is particularly affected when he mother and father breakup, her mother leaves home, and is then chosen by Saint Bede to be his 4th wife. Through all Grandma Bett provides much needed stability, but still the murders happen.
And then Gracie unwittingly identifies the murderer.
Have you ever wondered what would have happened if Boo Radley had been bad?
January 29, 2019
A thoroughly enjoyable journey that I devoured in an afternoon.
Lots of cultural references from the era - 1983 to be precise - were the icing on the cake.
However, the protagonist dissing the awesome Sir Phil Collins was a bit rough, I thought.
For some reason the story put me in mind of a small-town Stephen King special without the supernatural elements. I really thought there were going to be some, but it turned out to be something more prosaic. Still dragged me in. River Picnic, yep.
The characters were well drawn, and although the ensemble cast was large, I was able to keep them all differentiated in my mind without too much trouble.
Well done, Jennifer Lane.
I would highly recommend this book.
Lots of cultural references from the era - 1983 to be precise - were the icing on the cake.
However, the protagonist dissing the awesome Sir Phil Collins was a bit rough, I thought.
For some reason the story put me in mind of a small-town Stephen King special without the supernatural elements. I really thought there were going to be some, but it turned out to be something more prosaic. Still dragged me in. River Picnic, yep.
The characters were well drawn, and although the ensemble cast was large, I was able to keep them all differentiated in my mind without too much trouble.
Well done, Jennifer Lane.
I would highly recommend this book.
September 16, 2019
I'm so enjoying reading some of the talented Australian writers out there, and it's lovely to discover a new(to me) aussie voice. Lane has a clear way of sharing the dynamics of family and small town life thru' Gracie and you can't help but like her. This is a story about the interwoven communities that make up Gracie's world, it's not a crime thriller in the true sense, but it's a pleasant enough tale that will resonate with all those who grew up in a town where everyone knows everyone!
August 31, 2018
Loved it!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews