Secret Girl
By Molly Bruce Jacobs
St. Martin's Press (2006)
Reviewed by Ellen Hogan for Reader Views (1/06)
“Secret Girl” is the story of two sisters, Brucie and Anne. At the age of thirteen Brucie and her sister Laura are told that they have another sister named Anne, who is mentally retarded. Brucie's life is one of many ups and downs, mainly because of alcohol. Finally she decides to sober up, quits her job as an attorney and stays home with her children to write. It is when she sobers up that she decides to meet Anne.
Anne's life was spent in an infant nursing home, a mental hospital and finally a group home. Through talking to people who worked in each of these places and reading her records, Brucie learns about her sister's past. How she very rarely had any visits from her parents and was alone most of her life. The only family she knew were the other patients and caregivers.
Then came the time for them to meet - Brucie was 38 and Anne was 35. Over the next five years, there are accounts of Brucie taking Anne shopping, to McDonald's and to spend time at her home. Anne's childlike innocence is shown in things like planting marigolds with her sister, painting, or having a story read to her. She loved the color red and pocketbooks which reminded her of her mother.
Brucie drew some parallels between their lives, such as when she entered rehab and Anne was transferred out of the mental hospital. "Still, though Anne and I both have struggled to find a balance between being genuine and being what others wanted us to be, I realized that the parallel goes only so far. Many of the pressures on me to conform let up after Chatham, and I was free to be myself; Anne, on the other hand, never enjoyed that opportunity."
This book is for anyone, the theme of trying to fit in and subsequently in the end the forgiveness Anne gives Brucie could relate to all our lives. “Secret Girl” is a marvelous story and I would highly recommend it.
