The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets: The bestselling coming-of-age novel from the author of This Could Be Everything

Eva Rice

Dec 2012 · Hachette UK

About this ebook

The classic bestseller adored by thousands of readers from the author of THIS COULD BE EVERYTHING. Hailed as a 'modern vintage classic', The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets was a Richard and Judy Book Club Choice and is in development as a major new TV series.

Set in the 1950s, in an England still recovering from the Second World War, this is the enchanting story of Penelope Wallace and her eccentric family at the start of the rock'n'roll era.

Penelope longs to be grown-up and to fall in love, but various rather inconvenient things keep getting in her way. Like her mother, a stunning but petulant beauty widowed at a tragically early age, her younger brother Inigo, currently incapable of concentrating on anything that isn't Elvis Presley, a vast but crumbling ancestral home, a severe shortage of cash, and her best friend Charlotte's sardonic cousin Harry...

*** PRAISE FOR EVA RICE ***

'Exquisite. Enchanting. Quite possibly perfect. The next One Day/Me Before You' - Veronica Henry

'A reason to be cheerful . . . the book I've been waiting my whole life for, a perfect 90s period piece about sisters, it's glam, gorgeous, a little bit melancholic and a lot charming' - Daisy Buchanan

'Will break your heart and piece it back together again with wit, warmth and magic. The way Rice weaves together fiction and reality is delicious . . . Nobody captures the exhilaration of first love and teen fandom quite like her' - Lauren Bravo

This special tenth anniversary edition includes a foreword by Miranda Hart and an exclusive short story from Eva Rice, The Moth Trap, which offers a glimpse into the cocktail party where Penelope's parents, Archie and Talitha, first met.

Ratings and reviews

This book contains so many lovely things... best friends who are entirely different to you, afternoon tea, run down once-amazing stately homes, glamorous parties... it gets mixed up with I Capture the Castle in my head (which is a huge compliment by my book!) I'll definitely reread this at some point, it's made my list of favourite comfort reads

I love this book. I confess that I've read it three times now (the paperback twice and now the ebook) and it makes me cry every time. I can't recommend it highly enough. Its an uncomplicated story of young love in simpler times. Read it now!

I read this book a few years ago and still have it on my bookshelf. I can't possible get rid of it because it was so good.

About the author

Eva Rice has written 5 novels and is the author of the Sunday Times bestseller The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets- a post-war coming-of-age story that was runner-up in the 2006 Richard and Judy Book of the Year. A 10th anniversary edition of the novel was published in 2015 with a foreword by Miranda Hart. The Lost Art Of Keeping Secrets is currently being developed by Fudge Park (creators of The Inbetweeners) and Moonage Pictures (Pursuit of Love) as a major new TV series.

Eva has toured with bands since her early twenties. She has written the music and lyrics for Harriet a musical based on an early Jilly Cooper novel due to open in 2023. She has a geek-like fascination with pop music, and her party trick is recalling chart positions.

Follow her on twitter @EvaRiceAuthor