SuitabookThis Summer’s Secrets
Emily Barr
- Reading
- Allow time for the opening’s several narratives to settle. Keep track of names, periods and viewpoints if useful, and discuss reactions after revealing chapters rather than trying to resolve every mystery immediately.
- Themes
- Secrets and friendship: A group of friends’ relationships are threatened by hidden information during a summer in Cornwall. The book’s stance on this remains unclear.
- Past and present: Narratives from the 1940s, 1980s and modern day gradually connect, including Martha’s experience as an evacuee in Cornwall. The historical strand provides context about evacuees and links earlier experiences with later events, while also contributing to the mystery.
- Mystery and interpretation: The plot uses several viewpoints, time strands, letters and texts to reveal information about a murder mystery. The book’s stance on this remains unclear.
- Worth knowing
- The book includes murder, dangerous secrets, betrayal, loss and a character with a traumatic past. It also refers to the historical fact that suicide was once illegal; the extent and detail are unclear.