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WORK TITLE: Our Little Secret
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://roznay.com/
CITY:
STATE: BC
COUNTRY: Canada
NATIONALITY: British
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married; children: two.
EDUCATION:Attended Oxford University.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and novelist. Worked as an underwater fish counter in Africa, a snowboard videographer in Vermont, and a high school teacher in both the United Kingdom and Australia.
WRITINGS
Contributor to the anthology Refuge. Contributor to the Antigonish Review.
SIDELIGHTS
Roz Nay grew up in England and has worked in Vermont, the United Kingdom, and Australia. She also worked in Africa as an underwater fish counter for the Tanzanian government. The job involved scuba diving and counting tropical fish in order to gather data to protect a reef from dynamite fishing. “In the spirit of doing quite random things in your twenties, I volunteered for three months,” Nay noted in an interview with Blogcritics website contributor Adriana Delgado.
Nay’s debut novel, Our Little Secret, had its origins in her husband signing her up for a writing class. After moving to Canada and having two children, Nay “was elbow-deep in parenthood and [had] stopped working,” as she told Canadian Broadcasting Corporation website contributor Jane van Koeverden, adding that her husband thought the writing class would giver her something “completely different to do.” During the course, she wrote a short story about a woman named Angela.
When Nay decided to expand the short story into a novel, she “wanted to write a love story that captured that tender age when everything in the world feels hopeful, but undercut it with something darker,” as she told Aleesha Harris in an interview for the Vancouver Sun Online. She went on to tell Harris that, when taught high school, she saw “kids graduate each year, full of promise, so powerful. It struck me that it would be interesting to create a character who doesn’t meet her potential, and ends up in a life she doesn’t expect.”
Our Little Secret is a thriller featuring a missing woman and a love triangle. Angela Petitjean, who narrates the tale, was an outstanding student at her school in Cove, Vermont and would attend Oxford University. However, eight years later she is being held in an interrogation room by the Cove police. Her ex-boyfriend’s wife, the vivacious Saskia Parker, has gone missing. Hamish Parker, a high school standout on the swim team and a Cove golden boy, was Angela’s one true love. After a series of detectives interview Angela about Saskia’s disappearance, Detective Novak steps in to grill Angela, sure that she is involved in the disappearance somehow.
Toronto Star Online contributor Tara Henley noted that, following the success of The Girl on the Train, Gone Girl, and other similar books, “an explosion of ‘grip-lit’ titles” were published. Henley went on to note how many young authors were following the trend for “psychological thrillers with unreliable female narrators.” As a result, Henley wrote standing out from the crowd of writers was “difficult” and went on to remark that these factors make Nay’s debut “impressive,” adding: Nay “has not just managed to get her debut on shelves — she’s also penned one of the best grip-lit titles of the year.”
In the novel, as Angela begins to open up to Detective Novak, she relates her story starting many years earlier when, at the age of fifteen, Angela and her parents first moved to Cove. She describes her parents as people whose own ambitions had long ago been forgotten and, as a result, lived vicariously through their daughter. Meanwhile, Angela never really felt like she fit in with others in the school until she fell in love with her friend Hamish during her senior year in high school.
It turns out that Angela felt betrayed while studying at Oxford University in England. Angela had not wanted to go abroad because of her relationship with Hamish, but her parents insisted, prodding their daughter to succeed where they failed. When Hamish visits her, he ends up attending a ball with Angela and flirting with Saskia, a pretty blond from Australia. Deciding to get back at Hamish, Angela makes out with her friend Freddy Montgomery, who is quite smitten with Angela. Hamish is upset and ends up returning to the U.S. However, he is not alone. Saskia comes along, and Angela soon learns that the two have married.
After Hamish and Saskia marry, Angela hides her devastation when she returns home. When the couple have a baby, Angela agrees to be the child’s godmother. Angela’s parents end up getting divorced, and Angela accepts and invitation to move in with Saskia and Hamish. The arrangement does not go well, and Angela moves out. Saskia goes missing soon afterward. Although there is not body, Detective Novak is certain that she is dead and that Angela is the most likely suspect. Associated Press website contributor Bruce Desilva noted: “As Angela speaks, it becomes apparent that she is odd. Perhaps haunted. The reader can’t help but wonder how much of her tale is true.”
As the novel progress, a psychological dual takes place between Angela and Detective Novak. Readers, meanwhile, are left to ponder whether or not Angela is a murderer or simply a woman with a broken heart. “Nay expertly spins an insidious, clever web, perfectly capturing the soaring heights and crushing lows of first love and how the loss of that love can make even the sanest people a little crazy,” wrote a Kirkus Reviews contributor. Calling Our Little Secret “an arresting, perhaps unbelievable story,” a Publishers Weekly contributor went on to remark: “Nay is a writer to watch.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, February 15, 2018, Christine Tran, review of Our Little Secret, p. 34.
Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2018, review of Our Little Secret.
Publishers Weekly, February 19, 2018, review of Our Little Secret, p. 58.
ONLINE
Associated Press website, https://www.apnews.com/ (April 17, 2018), Bruce Desilva, “Review: Our Little Secret is Remarkable Debut by Roz Nay.”
Blogcritics, https://blogcritics.org/ (June 24, 2018), Adriana Delgado, “Interview: Roz Nay, Author of Our Little Secret.”
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation website, http://www.cbc.ca/ (June 24, 2018), Jane van Koeverden, “How Happy-Go-Lucky Author Roz Nay Wrote a Very dark Debut Thriller.”
Roz Nay website, https://roznay.com (June 24, 2018).
Toronto Star Online, https://www.thestar.com/ (June 9, 2017), Tara Henley, “Debut “Grip-Lit” Thriller Our Little Secret a Standout.”
Vancouver Sun Online, http://vancouversun.com/ (June 22, 2017), Aleesha Harris, “Author Q&A: Roz Nay Talks Our Little Secret.
About Roz
roznay_2610bwRoz Nay grew up in England and studied at Oxford University. She has been published in The Antigonish Review and the anthology Refuge. Roz has worked as an underwater fish counter in Africa, a snowboard videographer in Vermont, and a high school teacher in both the UK and Australia. She now lives in British Columbia, Canada, with her husband and two children. Our Little Secret is her first novel. Follow her on Twitter @roznay1 and on Facebook.com/roznay1.
Interview: Roz Nay, Author of ‘Our Little Secret’
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In Roz Nay’s debut novel, Our Little Secret, a woman sits somewhat calmly in the interrogation room of a police station. She is being questioned by a detective who visibly dislikes her about her possible role in the disappearance of another woman.
The suspect, Angela, gives nothing away with her body language. The story is from her point of view, but she doesn’t let us at the whole truth. Is she innocent? Guilty? Both? Neither? We do know that the missing woman is the wife of Angela’s friend and former flame, HP. We know that Angela wants to tell her story. We know the detective doesn’t believe a word she’s saying. But the most important question perhaps is, should we?
In an email interview, I asked Nay about the motive behind the plot (so to speak), and the intricacies of being a writer. Oh, and a former fish counter.
When did you first get the idea for this novel?
I found Angela’s voice first during a writing class I took. The homework assignment was to write 1,000 words in the voice of someone who has an axe to grind. Angela poured out of me fully-formed with a love triangle to describe. Crime stories and love stories intermingle very naturally, I think, but in this book’s case, the first seed of it was the love story.
You worked as an underwater fish counter in Africa. Tell me a bit more about that.
Best job ever! In the spirit of doing quite random things in your twenties, I volunteered for three months for the Tanzanian government, collecting data from the reef off the coast of Mafia Island, which is 10 miles south of Zanzibar. I had to scuba dive and count fish underwater – literally write down numbers of tropical fish on a little whiteboard – and then submit the data to try and get the reef protected from dynamite fishing.
I lived with 12 other volunteers in a camp with no electricity or running water. We ate fish and rice, cooked in an earth oven. I heard bush babies screeching at night. Honestly, I’d have done it forever if it was a paid position.
Angela is such a complicated and even enigmatic character. Did you base her on anyone in particular?
I think I based her on me, although obviously I might need therapy now that I’ve realized that…I think my years of high school teaching also played into Angela’s character – every year I taught girls who were cleverer than me, with tons of potential. They were amazingly powerful, even if they didn’t know it yet. I thought it would be interesting to take a girl like that and put her in a life she doesn’t want. What would she do then?
The story begins with Angela at a police station telling her story to a detective about a past relationship with her high school sweetheart HP, whose wife is missing. Were you confident this would draw the reader in right away?
I was trying my best to hook readers! I figured they’d surely want to know what happened to the missing woman, but I was also relying on the bait of a tragic love story. I gambled on the notion that most people have suffered a heartbreak or two along the way: it’s rare to get through young adulthood without one. So I loaded up the hook with a relatable sense of disappointment, and hoped for the best.
No spoilers here, but the ending is very unexpected. Did you know what the conclusion would be all along, or did it change as you were writing?
I always knew how it would end. I always knew who’d done the villainy! There was a lot that changed in the book, plot-wise, as we went through edits, but the bad guy(s) never changed. I think if you read the book twice, there are clues to the ending threaded in all the way from page 1. But I had to keep them subtle.
In the novel, you explore topics like manipulation, lies and betrayal. Was it difficult to keep all that balanced within the plot?
It is quite tricky to write a plot about being sneaky. Writers are sneaky anyway so it was an added layer of complication! Every step of the way, I was trying to seed doubt into the reader, playing with their sense of who to trust. So it was a very delicate balance. But ultimately, there’s nothing more fun than writing around big themes like secrets and lies. It opens up all kinds of possibilities for the characters.
Was there a character that proved particularly challenging to write?
They were all really fun to write, although Angela’s character felt like the most challenging. I wanted each of the main characters to be flawed and have a certain level of ambiguity. But the complexity of Angela was also why I liked writing her. I align with a lot of the things she says. Although perhaps not all of them.
Is there a second novel in the works?
There is! I’m currently editing book two, which is another psychological thriller. It’s about two sisters and something that happened in their past that only they know about. It’s about who they’ve become as adults, what they’ve done and how far they’d go to protect each other. It’s due out in Canada in spring 2019.
Author Q&A: Roz Nay talks Our Little Secret
B.C. author gets to the dark heart of a twisted love triangle.
ALEESHA HARRIS
Updated: June 22, 2017
Author Roz Nay.
Author Roz Nay. LISA SEYFRIED
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Our Little Secret
By Roz Nay
Simon & Schuster Canada
Everyone has something to hide. Or, at least that’s the case according to Roz Nay. Cover art for the book Our Little Secret by Roz Nay.
The Nelson, B.C.-based author took this premise of secrets — dark and otherwise — and used it as the central theme in her debut novel, Our Little Secret.
Nay talked to Postmedia News about the new crime-thriller novel, love triangles and living with something to hide.
Q. For those who aren’t familiar, what is Our Little Secret about?
A. Our Little Secret is a psychological thriller set mostly in a police interview room, where the main character, Angela, is being interviewed regarding the disappearance of a woman named Saskia. Saskia forms one corner of a love triangle in the book, Angela another; as Angela tells the detective her story, we begin to understand a decade’s worth of lost love, betrayal and entrenchment. But is Angela a scorned ex-lover with crime on her mind, or is she just a pawn in someone else’s revenge scheme?
Q. What inspired the book?
A: I wanted to write a love story that captured that tender age when everything in the world feels hopeful, but undercut it with something darker. I used to teach high school, and I’d watch kids graduate each year, full of promise, so powerful. It struck me that it would be interesting to create a character who doesn’t meet her potential, and ends up in a life she doesn’t expect. I thought that would be a pretty interesting backdrop for a love/crime story.
Q. A missing woman, a potential love triangle … it all sounds pretty scandalous. Was it difficult to create the type of dark drama in Our Little Secret, or did it all come pretty naturally?
A. It came rolling out of me, which I suppose I ought to be more worried about. I think I’ve always been drawn to the underbelly of things: I watch a lot of crime on TV, and my job is pretty dark, in that it’s child protection and grim case files. I’m interested in the things people try to hide and the reasons for the secrecy. I truly believe everyone’s hiding something — so the types of stories I write will probably always lurk in those corners.
Q. Did you always know your first book would be a thriller?
A. No, I thought I was going to be funny. In real life I notice comedy everywhere, and see beautiful little moments, so it’s surprising in a way that I’m producing such dark material. My agent, Carolyn Forde, keeps responding to my ideas for new novels with ‘Are you OK, Roz?’ It’s become a joke between us. Writing thrillers is exactly where I want to be, though. It’s a way to get to the interesting stuff. And love stories and crime stories seem to fit so well together; they’re really fun to write.
Q. What do you hope people take away from the book?
A. I wanted to create a world that people could get lost in for a day or two. The biggest compliment to me at the moment is when readers tell me they couldn’t put Our Little Secret down. It’s a little book, but hopefully it packs a bit of a punch and asks bigger questions. Can we really know another person? Can we really know ourselves? If it gets people invested and drawn in, that’s all I could really hope for.
Q. Lastly, the book is out now, so what’s next?
A. I’m currently writing like a crazy woman on book two. My days are busy with parenting and working full time, but I get up early to write and hope to have a first draft by September of this year. The new book is another psychological thriller, set here in the mountains of southern B.C. It’s about soulmates, a missing child, and two sisters bound by a tragic past. It’s a tale of how far they’d go to protect each other.
How happy-go-lucky author Roz Nay wrote a very dark debut thriller
Jane van Koeverden · CBC · May 4
Our Little Secret is Roz Nay's first novel. (Lisa Seyfried Photography/Simon & Schuster)
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B.C. writer Roz Nay might consider herself a happy person, but her first novel shows off her dark side. Our Little Secret is a deliciously creepy thriller that's already getting international attention. In May, she travelled to Paris to pick up the Douglas Kennedy Prize for best foreign thriller. Our Little Secret is currently a finalist for the Arthur Ellis Award, which recognizes the best Canadian crime writing, for best first novel.
In her own words, Nay tells us about the different things that inspired her first book.
From short story to novel
"Our Little Secret began as a 1,000-word short story in a writing class I was taking. I moved to Canada and quickly had two children, so I was elbow-deep in parenthood and stopped working. My husband signed me up for a writing course because he thought it would be healthy to have something that was completely different to do. I took the course and as an assignment I wrote a short story about Angela [the narrator]. When the course ended, I still didn't think I had a novel in me. But I liked Angela and I thought she was interesting."
Uncovering memories
"It has surprised me how many things I have stashed away in my brain that I didn't know I was storing. I'm pulling them out left and right now — turns of phrase people have said to me, the gestures I've seen, moments that I've had. I'm slightly displaced. I emigrated in my 30s and I miss England and I'm homesick at times. Writing's become a way for me to revisit places that I miss. Oxford is a major one of those. I love that city and I always go there when I visit England. To be able to stage a section of the novel there was really enjoyable."
Calling all writers! The CBC Poetry Prize is now open for submissions
A dark day job
"As a person, I'm quite happy-go-lucky and I had a nice, almost Sound of Music childhood. I'm quite grounded as a person, but I've always got one eye on the underbelly, the darker side of things. I think that my brain's gotten a bit darker in the last three years. The job that I do is relentless horribleness. I work in child protection. I do all the admin for adoptions here in this town, so I know the worst stories. All of them. I think that has played into it."
Sweeping the clutter away
"My workspace for Our Little Secret and the book I'm working on now is a kitchen table in a room full of everything to do with an eight-year-old and a 10-year-old. I write early in the morning because it's the only quiet time in the house and I work full time. I get up at 5:00 a.m. and I literally sweep the table clean of all the crayons and the maps that my son keeps drawing and sit down. I can't write on a cluttered table, but my life is definitely cluttered all the time."
Roz Nay's comments have been edited and condensed.
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Print Marked Items
Our Little Secret
Publishers Weekly.
265.8 (Feb. 19, 2018): p58.
COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Our Little Secret
Roz Nay. St. Martin's, $25.99 (272p) ISBN 9781-250-16081-2
How does Angela Petitjean, the narrator of Nay's captivating if contrived debut, go from being the pride of
Cove, Vt., with a place waiting at Oxford University, to just eight years later a person of interest being
grilled by police in her hometown about the disappearance of Saskia Parker, a vivacious young wife and
mother? That's the twisty tale that emerges, gradually, over the course of Angela's marathon interrogation.
Warming despite herself to the undivided attention of Det. J. Novak, the normally private Angela slowly
embraces the opportunity to open up about her one great love--with high school golden boy and, as she sees
it, soulmate, Hamish Parker, before a brash Australian force of nature named Saskia entered the picture.
Though Nay's inexperience shows in the stagy set-up, which amounts to almost an extended monologue,
and a couple of key players who don't rise above caricature--like Freddy Montgomery, the hopeless smitten
and conveniently rich Oxford swain--it's an arresting, perhaps unbelievable story that Angela spins. Nay is a
writer to watch. Agent: Carolyn Forde, Westwood Creative Artists. (Apr.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Our Little Secret." Publishers Weekly, 19 Feb. 2018, p. 58. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A529357519/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=679e084c.
Accessed 4 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A529357519
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Our Little Secret
Christine Tran
Booklist.
114.12 (Feb. 15, 2018): p34.
COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
* Our Little Secret.
By Roz Nay.
Apr. 2018. 272p. St. Martin's, $25.99 (9781250160812); e-book, $12.99(9781250160829).
Angela Petitjean realizes that she's a suspect in the disappearance of her first love's wife, Saskia Parker,
during a prolonged interrogation by Detective J. Novak. In response to Novak's prods, Angela agrees to tell
him everything she knows about both the victim, HP, and his wife, but only on her own terms. Taking the
story back 15 years, Angela slowly reveals her romance with HP, which began during their senior year of
high school; the betrayals that tore her and HP apart; and the recent months during which she had lived with
HP and Saskia in the couple's lakeside cottage. Saskia, Angela asserts, is a cunning liar and manipulator
who's probably left HP behind without a backward glance. But Novak isn't buying Angelas story,
challenging her version of events until THE narrative evolves into a clever psychological duel. Is Angela a
calculating killer or a pitiable woman scorned who is being framed by her rival? A sneaky-smart,
charismatic debut that will win fans among those who enjoy the kind of duplicitous and deliciously
complex psychological suspense written by Ruth Ware, Sophie Hannah, and Erin Kelly.--Christine Tran
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Tran, Christine. "Our Little Secret." Booklist, 15 Feb. 2018, p. 34. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A531171562/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=e7e77da8.
Accessed 4 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A531171562
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Nay, Roz: OUR LITTLE SECRET
Kirkus Reviews.
(Feb. 15, 2018):
COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Nay, Roz OUR LITTLE SECRET St. Martin's (Adult Fiction) $25.99 4, 24 ISBN: 978-1-250-16081-2
First love goes bad in Nay's mesmerizing debut.
Cove, Vermont, is a tidy town, and 15-year-old Angela Petitjean felt very out of place when she moved
there 11 years ago with her well-meaning but cloying parents. Then she met Hamish "HP" Parker. HP
looked like a young Harrison Ford and lit up every room he walked into, whereas Angela was quiet and
thoughtful. They became the best of friends and stayed that way until a graduation trip to the lake, when
they realized they were in love. When an unwilling Angela's parents make her go abroad for freshman year
at Oxford, HP goes over to visit her, but Angela becomes incensed when she spots him flirting at a ball with
Saskia, a very petite, very Australian blonde. After Angela gets caught in a bit of revenge canoodling with
her hapless, and smitten, friend Freddy Montgomery, HP goes back to the U.S. in a snit with Saskia in tow
and, to Angela's horror, eventually marries her. Angela puts on a brave face and even says yes when asked
to be godmother to their new baby. After Angela's parents get divorced, HP invites Angela to move in with
them instead of living with her mother--an ill-advised arrangement, to be sure. Things inevitably come to a
head (boy do they!), and Angela moves out. Now, Saskia is missing. Homicide Detective J. Novak is
convinced Saskia is dead and that Angela is responsible, but they don't have a body. Is Angela a murderer or
just a woman with a broken heart who never quite picked up the pieces? Angela's voice is wry and
compelling, revealing a girl who never quite lived up to her parents' expectations and a young woman who
felt incomplete without HP and has never quite been able to let go.
Nay expertly spins an insidious, clever web, perfectly capturing the soaring heights and crushing lows of
first love and how the loss of that love can make even the sanest people a little crazy. Carve out some time
for this riveting, one-sitting read.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Nay, Roz: OUR LITTLE SECRET." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Feb. 2018. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A527248300/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=5e0b9721.
Accessed 4 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A527248300
Review: ‘Our Little Secret’ is remarkable debut by Roz Nay
By BRUCE DESILVA
Apr. 17, 2018
https://www.apnews.com/45305504483745df9db36cc874719c15Link copied!
“Our Little Secret: a Novel” (St. Martin’s Press), by Roz Nay
Ten years ago, in the little town of Cove, Vermont, a quiet girl named Angela Petitjean fell in love with the dashing captain of the high school swim team. Now, Angela stews in the local police station, stonewalling a series of grim detectives who want to know if she can explain why her first love’s wife, Saskia, has gone missing.
Their questions suggest they have a list of preconceptions they are trying to check off. This, Angela is certain, is no way to get at the truth.
Finally, when Detective Novak takes a turn, Angela asks: “Do you really want to know what happened?” He does, so over the next 255 pages, she tells him — everything.
“Our Little Secret,” a debut novel by Roz Nay, superficially resembles Paula Hawkins’ “The Girl on a Train” and similar psychological thrillers that have stormed the best-seller lists in the last decade. But Nay’s work transcends the subgenre. The plot is more textured and heartbreaking, and her prose contains startling turns of phrase that reveal the soul of a poet.
As Angela speaks, it becomes apparent that she is odd. Perhaps haunted. The reader can’t help but wonder how much of her tale is true.
She begins when her family moves to town, settling in a house “that was sad and gray and looked hunched, like it was coughing.” Her parents, whose ambitions had gone unrealized, were living vicariously through her. Her father’s good intentions, she says, “held all of his own life’s ruin.”
Shutting them out, she finds friendship, and then her “soul mate,” in the swim team captain. They talk of marriage, but after graduation, she spends a year studying at Oxford. When she returns, Saskia has taken her place.
Angela has never been able to let it go.
As she prattles on, Novak grows impatient, interrupting with questions. Is Saskia alive? Did Angela harm her? In the end, she provides the answers — but only in the final sentence of this remarkable novel.
___ Bruce DeSilva, winner of the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award, is the author of the Mulligan crime novels including “The Dread Line.”
Debut “grip-lit” thriller Our Little Secret a standout
By TARA HENLEYSpecial to the Star
Fri., June 9, 2017
In the wake of blockbuster books such as The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl, we’ve witnessed an explosion of “grip-lit” titles. Seemingly every aspiring author out there is now busy capitalizing on the trend, crafting dark psychological thrillers with unreliable female narrators and wild plot twists. It’s increasingly difficult, then, to stand out in this crowded market. Especially for unknown writers.
All of this is why first-time author Roz Nay’s debut Our Little Secret is so impressive. The British-born, Nelson, B.C.-based talent has not just managed to get her debut on shelves — she’s also penned one of the best grip-lit titles of the year.
Our Little Secret centres on 20-something Angela, who lives in small-town Vermont, where “life is like the lid of a Christmas cake tin.” Alarmingly, we find her detained in an interrogation room. Her ex-boyfriend’s wife has been reported missing, and police suspect Angela might be involved. During the hours she sits across from the grim-faced Detective Novak, her story slowly emerges.
Calm, cool Angela spins a captivating tale, starting with her unlikely high school friendship with HP, moving on to their months-long romance, and, ultimately, landing at the arrival of Saskia, who derails everything. But this love triangle is not a straightforward one; it’s steeped in doubt. The reader is forced to question: is Angela the victim here, or is she the villain?
The writing, it must be said, is supremely seductive. Nay draws the reader in with compelling characters, deliciously dark themes, clever turns of phrase and heightened levels of suspense. What’s more, the intimate bond that Angela shares with charismatic, sun-kissed swim captain HP is nothing short of mesmerizing.
Nay has a colourful background that will serve her well in this next chapter of her life as a professional author. Oxford-educated, she spent years living abroad, working as a snowboard videographer in Vermont, an underwater fish counter in Africa, and a high school teacher in Australia. In other words: there’s lots more material where this came from. And that’s a good thing, because one suspects she’ll soon have an army of fans champing at the bit, eager to read whatever she writes next.
Tara Henley is a writer and radio producer.