This is a mixed review, and I don't know what number of stars to give this book. Normally, I just wouldn't review it in those circumstances, but this time, the issue is too important for me not to talk about it in public.So.This is a beautifully written book, with wonderful characters, in a series that I otherwise adored. (The Truth-Teller's Tale is one of my very favorite books this year!) 10 pages into reading this one, I was in a Happy Book Daze.….Until the first introduction of a character with chronic illness. A friend of the heroine's family is married to a woman with severe fatigue and chronic pain, caused by a terrible accident in the past. The wife, Victoria, is perfectly pleasant to everyone, but she tires quickly and can't take full part in all the social activities.And oh, does EVERYONE feel terrible for the poor man who's married to her! (He married her after her accident, btw, because he loved her, and he has never complained about her physical limitations). The heroine herself says that if she'd been him, she would have preferred Victoria to have been killed in the accident rather than come back to him disabled. The others shush her quickly, but only because she's been unkind, not because they disagree with her.Later in the book, it's revealed that - shock, horror! - even though Victoria always claimed she couldn't cope with pregnancy and children, actually - a Truth-Teller confirms this! - she physically could have managed to bear a child without lasting injury. So the only conclusion drawn by the other characters and the text is: what a selfish cow! How could she be so selfish as to not get pregnant, when she knows that her husband wanted children so much? After all, it wouldn't actually have killed her!Yes. That really is the exact reaction.Now, I have a chronic illness, too (M.E./CFS), which leads to intense fatigue and physical limitations. I don't have chronic pain, thank God, but even without that, I have to tell you: pregnancy was an intense challenge for me because of my illness. Raising little kids and dealing with sleepless nights, with M.E., is incredibly hard. And I have no pain issues to make the difficulty even worse! I can't imagine how much harder pregnancy and childbirth would be for someone dealing with chronic pain. For me, in my personal situation, all of that difficulty is 100% worthwhile because I wanted children so badly. But the idea that a woman with chronic fatigue and pain is not allowed to decide that that difficulty is NOT worthwhile to her? That making that choice makes her a terrible, selfish person?Honestly, I almost put the book down at that point. But I kept reading, because I so hoped that there would be some turnaround at the end. I kept thinking that that first scene (where the heroine said that if it were her, she'd rather the person she loved was killed than became disabled) would lead to an ending where the guy she really did love would become disabled and she'd realize that what mattered was him, not his physical abilities. (Or that she would have to deal with disability herself, and learn from that.)That never happened. Eventually, Victoria dies and everyone is so, so happy for her husband, finally no longer chained to a disabled wife. Just to be clear, he hadn't even been a physical caretaker for her - he was a rich merchant, so they'd hired helpers who did the physical work of looking after her. And everyone says that Victoria loved her helper and treated her like a daughter. Just to be extra-clear, there is never a single moment when Victoria is shown or reported to be saying anything mean or unpleasant to anyone, ever. She just says at various points that she needs to lie down and rest, which leads - every time - to the heroine and all the other characters looking at her husband with great sympathy. Indeed. Your wife can't keep going and having fun? How terrible and hard for you. You're certainly much to be empathized with, unlike her. People sometimes, piously, express pity for Victoria in this book. They never, ever feel any empathy for her, and neither does the text incite the reader to feel it.Making it worse, there's a bit of a theme of chronic illness in this book - at another point, a woman says, oh, she's just terribly weak and frail…and the heroine realizes that that woman's chronic illness is completely imaginary, just used to get out of doing unpleasant things.Another time, a woman (one who's not even an important enough character to get a name) pleads a headache to get out of the hard work that everyone else is doing that day, but then of course she recovers quickly once it's dinner time and everyone wants to party.At that point I almost started to laugh in disbelief.I did finish the book. The writing is beautiful, as I said before, and as always with Sharon Shinn. The characters are well-drawn, and there's an enormous amount of fun stuff in this novel.But I'll be giving it away next time I go into town. And reading it, as a woman with a chronic illness, made me feel like I was getting slapped, again and again and again.Sharon Shinn is one of my very favorite writers, and I'll continue to read her other novels, because I've loved every other book of hers I've read. That issue has never been repeated in any other works she's written, and this is an older book, not necessarily representative of her current work. But I was really, really disappointed by this one.
This was my first read by Sharon Shinn, so I did not know what to expect. Overall, I enjoyed the premise of the story as well as Shinn’s writing style. It intrigued me how the story progressed introducing new characters and finding out how everyone is interconnected to each other. Most especially, the relationship between Fiona and her (non)brother, Reed, tugged at my heartstrings. Ultimately, unfortunately, I was disappointed with the ending; I felt as though it was too clean: everyone was happy (those you cared about, anyway), there weren’t any open issues lingering, clean-cut…to the point…finished. Upon finishing the book I thought, “Well wasn’t that nice for everyone?”Though the conclusion of the book left me feeling less than impressed with the story, I found that Shinn worked many different “life lessons” into the story. The one which I enjoyed most of all was illustrated between Reed and Fiona: Fiona wanted to be a Safe-Keeper as long as she could remember while Reed was content with jumping from job to job to job trying to find a good “fit” for himself. Fiona’s argument was that Reed needed to settle down and make a decision even though he was content with the process. Is this not the case with most of us? From a very young age we are asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” How are we supposed to know what we want to be? And if we did, would it be the same thing a few years later?I enjoyed the process Reed experienced in choosing a life for himself. He went out into the “world” and simply tried different things. Each worked for a while, but ultimately none were the right fit for him. His ultimate choice in the end does not come as a surprise (well, not to me at least) and, in retrospect, each of his experiences helped prepare him for his final decision. Conversely, Fiona new what she wanted to be and attempted to tailor herself to meet the “requirements” of that job. Pursuing other avenues, about which she was passionate, became “side jobs” for her even though she seemed to enjoy them more. Realizing certain secrets about herself put into question her whole purpose (even though she lectured Reed about not being defined as an individual as opposed to whom you are related).We will discuss this book in our book club this month. I am looking forward to doing so because there are many aspects of this book which have multiple layers. Perhaps after doing so I will have a greater appreciation for the story, but until then, I enjoy the underlying themes a whole lot better.
What do You think about The Safe-Keeper's Secret (2005)?
This was an easy to read, decently paced book centered around a young woman's coming of age story. I liked the world the author created. It is well thought out, interesting and not a typical fantasy setting. Along with the normal blacksmiths and tavern keepers, there are also a few specialized jobs that border on the magical. These include "Truth Tellers" - a few individuals who magically know truths that they then tell, "Safe Keepers" - people who hold others secrets (sort of a specialized councilor), and "Dream Makers" - those who's mere presence can grant the deepest wishes of people nearby.While I found the world to be interesting, and I generally liked the characters, the actual story was not that memorable. It was a pretty typical coming of age story with only a very slight twist in the end. I'd recommend it to young women between 11 and 18, and those who are not looking for anything particularly thought-provoking.
—Eden Celeste
I enjoyed the Safe Keeper's Secret but then again, I enjoy all of Sharon Shinn's books. It has a very "young adult" sensibility to it... which usually doesn't bother me. Some of my favorite books can be considered "young adult" books (Robin McKinley's Beauty, Madeline L'Engle's Wrinkle in Time Series, and pretty much anything by Lucy Maud Montgomery) and when the writing is done right, I tend to forget that I am reading something intended for a younger reader. That didn't happen here. I never re
—Kerry
Damiana is a safe-keeper. The people in her village can come to her and trust her with their secrets and unburden their hearts with the safety of knowing that she will never gossip or tell what they have told her. She lives with her daughter Fiona, and her foster-son Reed, brought to her door by a king's messenger the night Fiona was born. Fiona plans to be a safe-keeper like her mother, while Reed finds that his interests lie in apprenticing with a merchant in the next town over. When Damaiana falls ill and dies, she leaves her final secret with Fiona. It is a secret that will, over time, unravel to change the future for Fiona and Reed both.This is a quiet fantasy. It takes place in a small English-feeling village and never goes much farther than the next village over. The book is all about Damiana, her children and their friends and their quiet life as they grow and learn and change, and even the twist ending is not loud and shocking, but like the final piece of a puzzle clicking quietly into place. Jo Walton has a poem about the quiet things in life, the things that usually fall between the lines in stories, overe here (http://papersky.livejournal.com/24372...). I think Shinn has accomplished that. She's found a compelling story in everyday life, a tale that stays in my head that isn't about saving the world or doing anything big or loud, but is rather about living life and becoming the person you want to be. I loved this book, every quiet minute of it.
—Lucy
