The Language of Secrets

I really enjoyed Dianne Dixon's The Language of Secrets. It is suspenseful and entertaining and a quick read.

Justin is moving back to the United States after many years abroad. He is now married with a son of his own and with his wife's encouragement, decides to make contact with his long estranged family. When he attempts this, Justin is stunned to find his home is inhabited by strangers and his father has passed away. When he visits the cemetery, he finds gravestones for his father and mother, and one that has his own name on it, for a child that died at the age of three. What unfolds is a suspenseful, pscyhological story of how Justin has managed to block certain events from his memory. To tell you more would give too much away, and this is a book that I want others to read for themselves.

However, with that said, I had one little thing about this story that I just had a hard time getting past. The story changes time periods frequently, alternating between the 1970s and the present. In one chapter set in the early 1970s Justin's sisters are playing and talking about the Smurfs. I actually had to stop and read this again. The 1970s? Smurfs? As a child of the 80s, I distinctly remember the Smurfs on television in the early 80s, not the early 70s. I even tried to find out a bit more about the Smurfs and when they were created. Yes, this is nitpicky, but I wonder why this wasn't caught when the story was edited.

I didn't let this ruin the book for me, which is a great read, and I hope that Dixon has a few more stories in her, because The Language of Secrets was well worth my time.