Secrets We Left Behind

A Novel

By: Susan Elliot Wright

Narrated by: Ellen Archer

Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

It was a summer of love and a summer of secrets.

She has built a good life: a husband who adores her, a daughter she is fiercely proud of, a home with warmth and love at its heart. But things were not always so good, and the truth is that she has done things she can never admit.

Then one evening a phone call comes out of the blue. It is a voice from long ago, a man from a past that she has tried so hard to hide. He knows who she really is and what she has done. Now he is dying, and he gives her an ultimatum: either she tells the truth, or he will.

And so we are taken back to that long, hot summer of 1976, to a house by the sea on the southern coast of England, where her story begins and where the truth will be revealed....

Told in dual narratives that jump back and forth in time, Elliot Wright has crafted a story with secrets that unfold through the very last minute. Compelling, immersive, and thoroughly surprising, The Secrets We Left Behind is a stunning follow-up to the author's acclaimed UK debut The Things We Never Said.

©2014 Susan Elliot Wright (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Slow and poor narration

I’m struggling to get through this story for a couple of reasons. Outside of the slow storyline- it’s really hard to get past the fake British accent. Why do publishers hire Americans to narrate an English narrative? It’s embarrassing. Especially when she can’t even pronounce her hometown correctly. Newquay is pronounced “Newkey” not “Newqway” . Very poorly produced and ruined the entire performance.

Loved this book!

I took a chance on this one because it was included in the audible membership. I absolutely loved it. I loved the character and will miss them. I recommend this book highly.

A real "downer"

I just couldn't finish this one. From the begining, there is a feeling of impending disaster, the sense that things are going to implode in the main character's life. Add to this the complete lack of suspense; anyone could figure out what was going to happen. I liked the narrator, but I just couldn't take the unrelenting feeling of misery in the story.

A road to cultivating understanding and empathy

No "spoilers" here: the secrets are pretty extreme. This was an Audible Plus selection, and I appreciate it. It moved slowly at first, and I wasn't sure it could hold my interest, but it did. I consider the "payoff" worth the time invested.
I continued listening while on a long drive, and believe this book honestly expresses the emotions and experiences many parents and grandparents had as adolescents and YA's in the '60s - the "free love", traumas, fear and confusion we often can't or don't want to comprehend. Admittedly, many people don't have such terrible secrets, but I've been sincerely astonished by some of the facts I've learned from law-abiding senior citizens. Stories like this are true, and some are considerably stranger (some sadder and terrifying). It's worth listening to this book, if we're willing to gain better understanding of and compassion for our elders. The narration is quite good, imo.

mom's love

loved this book . its a little slow sometimes . the ending is worth your time . i could haved cried so many times for this mother. mothers love is always with her kids blood or not

Were no British narrators available?

Interesting enough story, but as a first gen American with British parents, some of the accents were painful to listen to and really took me out of the story.

Heartfelt read!

I gasped at the very end, surprised and saddened that the story was over. I love how each character is portrayed, what a beautiful story about truth and love. The only downside was that I can hear the narrator swallowing and it became quite unappealing towards the end. Who knew what would drive me nuts?!

Bafflingly Bad

I'm frankly baffled by this offering. How did it get so many rave reviews? How did it get published to begin with? The writing is laughably bad. Does the reader really care about the minutiae of making a cup of coffee? I literally stopped the book to make sure I wasn't dreaming. It's that incomprehensibly boring.

And why not hire a native UK speaker or someone who can do the accent properly? It's not like it was a riveting story or you were carried along by the writing alone and could forgive the awful attempt at an English accent. If I heard 'dotar' i.e. 'daughter' one more time I think the Kindle would have ended up out the window.

There are far more titles worthy of your time. Skip this. Big longjump skip!

Skip this book.

Awful, boring, dismal, just a weepy poor me story. Safe yourself from reading a very poor book.

Great story

I was thoroughly engaged throughout the entire book!! Great Narrator!! Will listen from this author again 😁