Everyone knows that Virginia Wallace is an incorrigible pest. I am absolutely notorious for badgering my co-workers out of un-released manuscripts! If a book catches my eye, I’m just like, ‘gimme’! And no, I’m not a paid reviewer, or even an amateur one for that matter. I just love to read, and I am smugly pleased to have access to amazing stories that haven’t been made available to the general public yet.
Fortunately, F. Burn was kind enough to lend me hers, the manuscript for her novel entitled Secret Love. Two words caught my attention when her book was described by my publisher, Ric Savage: ‘Dark’, and ‘poetic’.
She had me at ‘dark’, but ‘poetic’ to boot? WOW!!!
Secret Love could be described as a ‘taboo’ story, and in some sense I suppose it is. It’s the story of a female teacher who falls hard for a male student. It’s no secret that I have a fairly conservative view of relationships and sexuality (I’ve been panned in reviews for that), but this book fascinated me nevertheless. For starters, F. Burn is very careful to make no moral commentary whatsoever upon her character’s actions. Right, wrong, or otherwise, this story is happening… and yes, this kinda stuff does happen.
I loved the moral ambiguity of the tale. Was it wrong for Francesca to fall for Ritchie? It wasn’t like he was a kid, after all. Younger, perhaps, but certainly not a child. But then, many would say it’s always wrong for a teacher to fall for a student. On the other hand, attraction kinda happens even against our will, doesn’t it?
At the end of the day, this story just is what it is. I recommend simply reading it as such, and leaving it at that.
I loved that Francesca was lovely in her own way (as romance novel heroines generally are), but she does describe some self-perceived ‘flaws’ in her appearance, which makes her very relatable. The first-person narrative tense makes the story even more intimate. I loved that Ritchie only weighs in on his own tale at the very end, giving the story a very, very powerful next-to-last chapter.
And I have to say that this is one thing that makes F. Burn’s novel really shine. First-person narrative is a deal with the Devil. It gives one a deeper look into a character’s thoughts than third-person, but at the same time it’s limiting because the reader is forced to view the story entirely through the characters’ lenses. There’s no all-present, omniscient narrator.
It’s hard to be ‘poetic’ when one is writing in the first-person tense. First-person tends to come across as rather matter-of-fact, even though it’s often entertaining. Only three novels narrated in first-person come to mind that I would describe as ‘poetic’: Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, and Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca and My Cousin Rachel. (My Cousin Rachel, by the way, had a similar ‘taboo’ theme to Secret Love.)
Now I’m gonna say four novels. Secret Love just joined the list.
I also loved that the story was defined by a strong sense of restraint on the part of the heroine. Relationships require restraint. Bonds easily forged are bonds easily broken. Creating a lasting relationship requires saying ‘no’ for a long time. Introducing sex too early leads to a selfish satisfying of desire at the expense of truly bonding with another person on an emotional level. I’m not overly fond of stories in which the hero and heroine jump right into bed, and then suddenly realize they’ve found true love and live happily ever after. Life just doesn’t work that way, you know? I certainly don’t write that way. (And yah, I’ve been panned for that, too.) Level-headed people know when to set passion on a back burner in order to build something better, and I loved that trait in both the fictitious Francesca and the real-life imagination of F. Burn.
This book gets an honest five stars from me. Some readers might be uncomfortable with the subject matter, and if that’s you then I suppose I understand.
But this book doesn’t condemn its own subject matter, and neither does it condone it.
It just is what it is.
So if you’re feeling adventurous—if your own comfort zone is starting to feel a bit stifling—check it OUT!!! Secret Love, by the amazingly talented F. Burn.
Read the full review here:
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