Secret Smile focuses around Miranda Cotton, a painter and decorator in London. Miranda meets Brendan whilst ice-skating and they go on a handful of dates. One day she returns to her flat to find that he has not only let himself in, but is sitting there reading her diary. Furious, she kicks him out and terminates their relationship. A couple of weeks later, Miranda’s sister Kerry phones to say she has good news. She’s met a new guy and his name…is Brendan. Brendan, however, has told Kerry and anyone else who’ll listen that he ended the affair with Miranda and that she was heartbroken.
Miranda’s parents have always seen her as the successful child, with Kerry not doing quite so well, and they urge Miranda to make the uncomfortable situation work for Kerry’s sake. Brendan is soon one of the family, to the extent of mentoring Miranda’s emotionally troubled brother Troy.
To Miranda’s horror, Brendan has her family and friends convinced that he is a nice guy and that she is jealous. Only she hears the inappropriate things he says to her and knows the lies he has told. A number of shocking events occur and eventually Brendan is out of her life but Miranda puts her sanity and freedom at risk by trying to protect the next woman in his.
Secret Smile is probably classed as a psychological thriller but we never get to find out the motivation for Brendan’s behaviour and also it’s not particularly thrilling as there isn’t a lot of action. In the main, the story is about Miranda trying unsuccessfully to convince her family, friends and even the police, that there’s something wrong with Brendan. It does keep you listening though, to discover if or when Brendan will get his comeuppance. I have to confess I was a little disappointed in the story as the blurb promised something more exciting. The writing is excellent so I may try another Nicci French book at some point.
I believe the narrator normally speaks with an American accent, but she read
this very well with a British one, with only the occasional lapse such as A
to Zee rather than A to Zed. I became very impressed with her rendition of the
many characters. Her Miranda was extremely believable and she imbued Brendan
with a slimy voice which made my skin crawl. For once, the production values
were a bit below ISIS’s normal excellent standard as at least once a side, a
sentence would be repeated. ----
Karen Meek
Nicci French are a husband and wife writing team. Other books are The Memory
Game, The Safe House, The Red Room, Land of the Living, Beneath The Skin.