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Game of Secrets: A Novel

by Dawn Tripp (Goodreads Author)

3.19 of 5 stars 3.19 · rating details · 199 ratings · 79 reviews

In 1957, Jane Weld was eleven years old when her father, Luce, disappeared. His skiff was found drifting near a marsh, empty except for his hunting coat and a box of shotgun shells. No one in their small New England town knew for sure what happened until, three years later, Luce’s skull rolled out of a gravel pit, a bullet hole in the temple. Rumors sprang up that he had b...more

Hardcover, 253 pages

Published July 5th 2011 by Random House

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Apr 24, 2013 karen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sshh-family-secrets

when you play the game of secrets, you win... or you die.

nahhh, nothing as dramatic as that, and not one single dragon.

this book is better than it looks, but not as good as i had hoped.

it has really beautiful language but really clunky plot.

it made my heart swell with its mentions of del's lemonade, lincoln dog park, newport jai alai, and coffee milk. but the relationships, both romantic and familial, left me without heartswells at all.

the family secrets were everywhere on the spectrum from "e...more

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Jul 13, 2011 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

I won this as part of Goodreads Firstreads Giveaway-thank you!

In 1968, Jane Weld was 12 years old her when her father, Luce, went missing. At the time he was having an affair with Alda Varick and her jealous husband was always considered a suspect. Now it is decades later and Jane's daughter, Marne, has struck up a relationship with one of Ada's sons. Jane herself meets once a week for a Scrabble game with Ada and during the game the two of them share detailed memories of the past. While Dawn Tr...more

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Mar 28, 2012 Hesse rated it 1 of 5 stars

I don't even know if it's fair for me to review this book because I couldn't finish it. But I feel like if I'm going to give it a one-star rating, I have to explain myself.

I saw the author give a reading from this book at the Boston Book Fest and was deeply turned off by it. It occurred to me immediately that she was not reading her writing as a novelist would, but as a poet: she ran sentences together, used no emotion whatsoever, but sort of lifted and dropped the tone of her voice in a robotic...more

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Aug 17, 2011 Karen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Game of Secrets...I did enjoy the prose style. I thought the imagery in some of the passages was beautiful. I did find in parts of the book that the prose could get a little thick which slowed down the progression of the book. There were other places in the book where the prose was more clean and strait forward and then the pace of the story would speed up. I definitely felt the tenison in the story and I kept waiting for something tragic to happen in the present.(2004) As readers we already kne...more Game of Secrets...I did enjoy the prose style. I thought the imagery in some of the passages was beautiful. I did find in parts of the book that the prose could get a little thick which slowed down the progression of the book. There were other places in the book where the prose was more clean and strait forward and then the pace of the story would speed up. I definitely felt the tenison in the story and I kept waiting for something tragic to happen in the present.(2004) As readers we already knew about Luce's death.

I didn't feel like I was reading a mystery. I felt like the author was slowly revealing the secrets of a small community but I din't know why it was so imperative that the secrets were revealed now. I couldn't sense a catalyst for this, not even for the sake of Marne's and Ray's relationship. Jane and Ada have beeen playing Scrabble for ages and Jane never questioned her father's lover, ever? Spoiler alert!(view spoiler)

One more thing. I was confused a bit about the socio-economic status these characters hold. The men are fisherman,and hunters. The woman don't work. Jane's house had a privy out back when they first bought it and it had exposed pipes in the kitchen. Ada has a delapidated shack on her property that Huck hangs out in. She moves it to a piece of land she has. Ada seems insightful at times but talks like a sailor others,as does Marne. There is mention of big summer homes and summer visitors. I felt like the year-round residents of the area were poor yet the women read quite a bit. Self-educated?

And would Huck at fourteen really wax poetic the way he does in his mind when he thinks or sees Jane. I know it is the author's style of writing but for that character she could have been a more real with his thoughts.(He suffered abuse and was filled with anger as well).

I guess this book raised more questions for me than it answered.

PS The author was in my area doing a book signing and I missed her. I would have loved to ask her some of these questions myself. (Albiet tactfully)(less)

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Jul 06, 2011 Diane rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: a-favorite-read

In Game of Secrets, the lives of two women, two families are tied forever by a unsolved crime and secrets of the past. In 1957, Luce Weld, father to (12) year old Jane disappeared. Luce was a womanizer who had been having an affair with Ada Varick. Ada was married to Silas at that time, but left her husband the year her son Ray was born. What exactly happened to Luce, is unknown, however in the 1960's a skull with bullet hole in it was found, and it townspeople suspected it could have been Luce....more

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Jun 09, 2012 Rachel P rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads

I won “Game of Secrets,” by Dawn Tripp as a first reads giveaway. I had a lot of difficulty getting into and staying interested in this novel. I probably would have stopped reading it if I hadn’t won it as a giveaway.

The description on the back of the book already contains ¾ of the plot; Jane Weld’s father, Luce, was having an affair with a woman named Ada Varick and went missing in 1957. His skull was found 3 years later with a bullet hole in it. Everyone in her town suspected he was murdered...more

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Dec 26, 2011 Diane rated it 2 of 5 stars

I'd give this a 2.5. I read Dawn Tripp's earlier novels and loved both of them. Sadly, this novel didn't quite measure up to these two earlier works. I found it rather disjointed, and for some reason, I had a hard time keeping track of the relationships between characters. There was a fair amount of emotion around certain characters that I didn't think was fully explained. One particular character appears along the periphery of Jane's life but then seems to fade out without a reason for his appe...more

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Apr 30, 2012 Holly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-reads

From an interview with Dawn Tripp at Bookslut.com, wherein she talks about the role of Scrabble in her novel:

How we play that particular game can reveal so much about how we tick, how we live, who we are. Some play to keep the board open; some play to shut it down. Some play with an eye to the sum of the total scores of all players; some play, simply, to maximize their own. Most players will look at the board and see the words that fill it. But a really good player, a canny player -- and she wa

...more From an interview with Dawn Tripp at Bookslut.com, wherein she talks about the role of Scrabble in her novel:

How we play that particular game can reveal so much about how we tick, how we live, who we are. Some play to keep the board open; some play to shut it down. Some play with an eye to the sum of the total scores of all players; some play, simply, to maximize their own. Most players will look at the board and see the words that fill it. But a really good player, a canny player -- and she was one of those -- will also see opportunity in the skinny spaces still left open in between. [...] The unfolding of the mystery at the heart of Game of Secrets comes to mirror the playing of the Scrabble game: clue after clue is revealed, the story comes together piece by piece; disparate letters are arranged into words, which, in turn, are arranged into a larger grid. The game became the perfect lens for this story of two women, two families bound together and divided by unspeakable secrets, a brutal past, a murder, a love story.

And some interesting thoughts on her writing process:

In the early stages of a book, I turn my back completely on that adage "write what you know." I write what I am impelled by. I start where I feel led to start. Sometimes I draft a sequence toward the opening. More often I will draft the ending first. For months I write longhand, sometimes on little slips of paper, receipts, grocery lists, throw-away things that I then transcribe into notebooks, and from there to my laptop. I am particular about who I show my work to, and when. Not out of fear of judgment, but because when I am really living in a story, I am open. And I have a certain faith in that openness. I don't polish my drafts up too soon. I leave notes in the margins, some passages entirely without punctuation. I leave things untidy, open to change. I find that when I can let myself stay open to possibilities in a story that I may not yet have uncovered, when I can let myself be driven by what I do not yet know, the story often turns, deepens, in unexpected, revelatory ways.

At a certain point, when I have generated about 120-150 pages of story material, I begin to outline. I map the larger arc of the story against a five-act structure: inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, denouement. More essential, I feel, than outlining is creating arcs. I map each subplot arc against the larger story arc. I map an arc for each character, so that each character changes in some significant way to advance the turns in the plot. Each of those smaller arcs -- subplot, character, etc. -- help drive the main arc of the story.

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Aug 09, 2011 Erika Robuck rated it 5 of 5 stars

Set in a small New England town, GAME OF SECRETS is a novel told from multiple points of view in different time periods. Two aged women playing a game of Scrabble with a tangle of shared, unspoken, family tragedies, a pair of young lovers meeting in secret in an old barn, an unearthed skull with a bullet hole revealing a decades-old murder, and a guarded daughter trying to find where she fits into her town and her family provide the framework of the book. The stories weave together through time...more Set in a small New England town, GAME OF SECRETS is a novel told from multiple points of view in different time periods. Two aged women playing a game of Scrabble with a tangle of shared, unspoken, family tragedies, a pair of young lovers meeting in secret in an old barn, an unearthed skull with a bullet hole revealing a decades-old murder, and a guarded daughter trying to find where she fits into her town and her family provide the framework of the book. The stories weave together through time like the tiles of the game, surprising the reader how they fit together at every turn.

There are some books I love for the characters, the people who seem real enough to step off the page and into the room. There are other books I love for the author’s use of setting as a canvas that sets off the colors of the story like no other background could. Sometimes I love a book for plot and pacing that keeps me turning pages late into the night.

All of these elements are present in GAME OF SECRETS, but if I had to pick what I loved most about this book, it would be the prose. Dawn Tripp’s command of language takes a story that has all of the above elements used well, and further elevates it.

From gentle, sensitive Jane: “…even in dead winter, her favorite season, that certain honesty of winter, all things stripped back to being only what they are…”

From Jane’s turbulent, difficult daughter, Marne: “…I set the blade of my brother’s pocketknife in tight against the binding, I realized: Grafting someone else’s thoughts might just be the fastest way to cut yourself free of your own.”

From Jane’s father, the murdered man: “He could tell her that this dinge of a room where they meet, this brief occasional time, an hour or two at most, this stolen time, is where he lives.“

Every description, every use of figurative language, every theme supports the story around it including the character whose narrative encompasses it.

I found almost all of the characters endearing except one, and even that character had redeemable qualities. I cared most for Marne, even when she was judgmental of and impatient with her mother, because Marne always tried to understand more by pouring over her mother’s notes in an old library book. Marne tried to find the thread that connected her to her mother–a thread that Marne intuitively felt but had a hard time recognizing in her conscious mind.

If you enjoy layered books and elegant prose, I highly recommend GAME OF SECRETS. It will keep you thinking about its characters long after you’ve turned the last page.(less)

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Aug 21, 2012 Tiffany (Book Cover Justice) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own

Review originally posted at: Book Cover Justice

Game of Secrets is the story of small town life and how one act can influence many generations. While the main story in the book is of Jane Weld, there are many other smaller stories happening at the same time that all come together. Jane was eleven years old when her father disappeared. Three years later, his skull was found with a bullet wound. While nobody knew for sure and nothing could ever be proven, it was believed that he was murdered by the...more Review originally posted at: Book Cover Justice

Game of Secrets is the story of small town life and how one act can influence many generations. While the main story in the book is of Jane Weld, there are many other smaller stories happening at the same time that all come together. Jane was eleven years old when her father disappeared. Three years later, his skull was found with a bullet wound. While nobody knew for sure and nothing could ever be proven, it was believed that he was murdered by the angry husband of his mistress, Ada Varick.

Now many years later, Jane and Ada have formed a somewhat strange relationship. They meet every Friday for Scrabble and have bonded over their combined loss. At the same time, Jane's daughter, Marne, has started dating Ada's son, Ray. While Marne has loved Ray for years, things done in the past and family secrets are hard to forget and their relationship is strained and tested almost immediately. The story alternates between time and characters. We hear from Jane, past and present, as well as other members of her family and of Ada's. The story works back and forth to bring out the truth about Jane's father and the repercussions the two families have lived with since his death.

I'll be honest and tell you I had a hard time getting into this book. While it was somewhat short, less than 300 pages, it still took me a long time to get through it. I think this was due to the author's writing style. It was heavy, the words very deliberate and almost every sentence a clue with double meaning. Sometimes I had to go back and read them again to make sure I was getting every bit of information the author was trying to tell me. Because of this, the beginning seemed to really drag. It took me days to get through just seventy pages. I kept at it though, and things really started to take off in a much better direction. I got used to the style of writing and started picking up on the small clues hidden in those words that ultimately led up to a satisfying read.

Each character we hear from in this book had their own story to tell, each struggling with something they so desperately want to change or forget. Jane wants to know what really happened to her father all those years ago and she wants to know what Ada knows. Marne, Jane's daughter, is struggling with her feelings for Ray and the way she distances herself from her family. Her relationship with her mother is strained and she is unable to move past it.

Of all the characters, the one I found myself most intrigued by was Huck, Ray's brother and another of Ada's sons. He was just a young boy when Jane's father went missing, but he remembers the fighting between his parents and even his secret love for Jane, someone who doesn't even notice him. Marne seems to hold a deep hatred for Huck, although it isn't immediately clear why. As the story progresses, we hear more from Huck as a teenager and learn more about his life growing up in a difficult household. I felt sorry for him and wanted better for him even though I knew where his life was going.

Game of Secrets is not a book to breeze through. It is one that needs to be digested slowly, giving you time to connect those clues and really take in all those things left unsaid but somehow still known. There are many secrets hidden in these pages, secrets that have been buried deep for years and just may shock you once they come to light.

I recommend Game of Secrets to anyone who is in the mood for a good mystery, putting the puzzle together piece by piece until all is revealed.

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Jun 20, 2012 Digna rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

An emotionally woven wooden roller coaster ride.

As you partake in Game of Secrets you awaken your senses to a place and time that feels familiar as if you yourself have been there before. The characters in this novel feel frozen in time as emotions ripple through with every turned of the page. The main characters have so much in common yet they keep those emotions encased within themselves as if waiting for someone to come along and crack their shells. As the story unfolds it weaves back and for...more

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Feb 21, 2012 Amitha rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: e-book

I know I would've enjoyed this better if I hadn't been under the strange misapprehension that this was a whodunit type murder mystery that hinged on a game of scrabble. Yes, there is an unsolved murder which is unraveled through the course of the book, but there is no real investigation, no questioning of suspects, and clues to try to keep track of (unless the reader does this him/herself).

Instead this is a beautifully written, character-driven novel that delves into the sad yet breath-takingly...more

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Dec 11, 2011 Barb rated it 2 of 5 stars

thought i already wrote this. not a bad story, but the part that is praised by reviewers annoyed me! scrabble! see below.

boston globe bestseller: Jane Weld was eleven years old when her father, Luce, disappeared in 1957. His skiff was found drifting near a marsh, empty except for his hunting coat and a box of shotgun shells. No one in their small New England town knew for sure what happened until, three years later, Luce’s skull rolled out of a gravel pit, a bullet hole in the temple. Rumors sp...more

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Jul 11, 2012 Charlotte Lynns Reviews rated it 3 of 5 stars

Game of Secrets is the story of two families that are twisted together by a budding romance, an affair, and a murder. In 1957, Luce Weld was murdered by a gunshot to the head. At the time of his murder he was having an affair with Ada Varick. It is widely believed that Ada’s husband, Silas, is the one who put the bullet in Luce.

Jump ahead to 2004, Jane age 60, Luce’s daughter, plays Scrabble weekly with Ada, 80, in hope of learning more about Luce’s romance and eventual murder. Marne, Jane’s dau...more

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Jul 06, 2011 Kim Wright rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book. I know from this writer's past work that she has the ability to create vivid characters who are equally capable of love and violence. Game of Secrets is her best yet and it asks an important central question: How well do we ever really know anyone?

Set in a small New England town and based on a scrabble game between two old friends, Game of Secrets is about the unraveling of a mystery that deeply affected the lives of both women. But, as is often the case in small towns, the p...more

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Jun 21, 2012 Beth rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads

Luce Weld, mysteriously disappeared in 1957. Luce was having an affair on his wife with Ada Varick, who was married to Silas. Ada divorced Silas right after her son Ray’s birth. In 1960, a skull is found with a bullet hole and is presumed to be Luce by the town folk.

2004, Jane is still searching for closure with her father’s, Luce, disappearance. To make matters worse, her difficult daughter, Marne, has returned and is dating Ada’s son Ray. Jane is now 60 and Ada is 80 and they have become close...more

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Oct 29, 2012 Tad Crawford rated it 5 of 5 stars

Game of Secrets is a demanding and rewarding game for the reader. Built around the metaphor of a game of Scrabble, the novel uses interstitial interludes of piecing, fitting, and scoring words from the placement of letters as a descriptor for the difficult challenges that we all face in piecing together the impact of family and past on who we become and our capacities to embrace life.
Set with a marvelous particularity in a small New England fishing town, the novel draws fine portraits of two f...more

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May 13, 2013 Pauline rated it 4 of 5 stars

This story starts with Ada and Luce having an affair in the 1950's. Ada tells Luce that her nasty husband is threatening them and later Luce turns up missing and then murdered. We fast forward approx. 50 years later and see the ramifications of this affair on the surviving generations. There's lots of secrets and if you love symbolism in your novels, then this story is right up your alley. From the references to light throughout and the scrabble game in later years between Ada and Luce's daughte...more

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Jul 09, 2012 Kristi (Books and Needlepoint) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: arcs

This was a very quick read and beautifully written. I like the way all the stories intertwined with these families. How Jane is now friends with the woman who was her father's mistress 50 years before - and her daughter and Ada's son are flirting with an attraction that is growing between them. The three women - Ada, Jane and Marne - play the larger roles in this story and while the men they love (or who love them) figure in to the story, it is the women who you learn the most about. While the s...more

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Aug 20, 2011 Roxane rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a truly outstanding book in many ways. Where this book particularly excels is in description. Everything about these people, the place they call home, the lives they have lived, is rendered in lush, exquisite detail. The characters are richly drawn and endlessly interesting. The ending falters a great deal. While poetic, there is not enough of a narrative arc for one of the main characters, Marne, and one of the story's biggest secrets is a bit... frustrating in how it is handled. It is...more

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Sep 25, 2012 Samantha Glasser rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

I won this as part of Goodreads Firstreads Giveaway.

Game of Secrets is the story of a family. Jane Weld was the daughter of Luce, a man who went missing many years before under mysterious circumstances. At the time of his death, Luce was having an affair with Ada Varick, and when Jane got older, Ada became her best friend. Now old ladies, they play Scrabble together in the park. When Jane's daughter Marne becomes sweet on Ada's son, the tension between the family appears to have dissipated a bi...more

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Aug 09, 2012 Margaret Wilkening rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I received Game of Secrets in a Goodreads giveaway, and, to be honest, left it sitting on my bedside table for a month. I was uncertain how this "literary thriller" tied to a weekly Scrabble game was going to play out. I dreaded reading one of those dramatic, depressing stories where a parent or a child has to betray the other for the common good.

The promotional quotes proclaiming it to be a thriller is misleading. A thriller implies hot and fast and dramatic unfolding. Game of Secrets was quie...more

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Jun 21, 2012 Cheryl "Mash" rated it 2 of 5 stars

Game Of Secrets by Dawn Tripp
Published by Random House
Publication Date:
ISBN: 1400061881
ASIN: B004J4WL5K
Pages: 273
Review Copy from: Sparkpoint LLC
Edition: HC
My Rating: 2

Synopsis: In 1957, Jane Weld was eleven years old when her father Luce, a petty thief, disappeared. His skiff was found drifting near the marsh, empty except for his hunting coat and a box of shot-gun shells. No one in his small New England town knew for sure what happened until, three years later, his skull rolled out of a gravel...more Game Of Secrets by Dawn Tripp
Published by Random House
Publication Date:
ISBN: 1400061881
ASIN: B004J4WL5K
Pages: 273
Review Copy from: Sparkpoint LLC
Edition: HC
My Rating: 2

Synopsis: In 1957, Jane Weld was eleven years old when her father Luce, a petty thief, disappeared. His skiff was found drifting near the marsh, empty except for his hunting coat and a box of shot-gun shells. No one in his small New England town knew for sure what happened until, three years later, his skull rolled out of a gravel bank by the river, a bullet hole in the temple. There were rumors he had been murdered by the jealous husband of his mistress, Ada Varick. Now, half a century later, Jane is still searching for the truth of her father's death, a mystery made more urgent by the unexpected romance that her willful daughter, Marne, has struck up with one of Ada's sons. As their love affair intensifies, Jane and Ada meet for a casual Friday board game that soon transforms into a cat-and-mouse game of words long left unspoken, dark secrets best left untold.

My Thoughts and Opinion: A murder in a small town in 1957 that was never solved until 2004. Two families connected and affected, due to this murder, and the effects of infidelity that was always thought was the reason behind the murder. But who did it? Two damaged families, for generations, connected through friendship and romantic interests, and bound together by lies, betrayal, mistrust, protection and the search of the truth.

For me, this is one of the hardest reviews I have had to write because of the following. After reading the synopsis, I started reading this book with a preconceived notion, expectation and presumption of what the premise was. I was wrong and because of my assumption, I was disappointed with the outcome. After I finished reading this book, I did read others' reviews, which the majority were 4 and 5 star ratings, to see if I was in the majority or minority of my rating. I was in the minority. I feel that it is not fair to the author and/or the book, because of my inference, that you make a decision to read and/or not read this book because of my opinion. However, since I do post a review of every book I read, I will share my thoughts.

It was very hard for me to relate to the characters. I thought that one character, Marne, granddaughter of the murder victim was not developed. It was conveyed that she had "come home" but I was unsure as to why. Plus she had a "chip on her shoulder" attitude and a very troubling relationship with her mother, Jane, daughter of the murder victim, Luce, but the reason for this was not explained. Another issue I had trouble believing was the friendship between Jane and her Scrabble opponent, Ada, who was her father's mistress and the person who broke up Jane's parents' marriage, which Jane had never truly accepted. One of my assumptions was that the words formed during these weekly Scrabble games produced would be hints as to who the murderer was. The author did describe each game, the words created and how many points the player achieved. However, I didn't feel that the words played had anything to do with the long ago murder of Jane's father but it was the conversations the 2 woman had during their weekly scheduled games. The book held my attention and was a fast read but I think it was due to the fact of trying to figure out who the killer was. I didn't feel that is was a page turning suspense but a page turner to just find out the truth. I want to stress that this is my opinion, and my opinion only. Not every book is for every reader. And according to the reviews, a lot of people disagree with me. Nonethe less, this is my personal viewpoint of this book.

(Challenges 2012: EBooks, Off The Shelf, FreeReads, Where Are You, A-z, 52 in 52, Outdo Yourself, 100+)(less)

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Aug 10, 2012 Julie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I lived and grew up in a town so much like the one in this book. That is what kept me interested about the characters and the story. It kind of jumped around, much like a scrabble game which I love to play so at times you had to re-read the date and person at the front of each chapter. In a small town, everyone knows everyones business, and family history just follows along. I wanted to know what happened in the past, and what was to happen in the present. An interesting read for me.

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Jul 12, 2012 Kathleen rated it 1 of 5 stars

While the book maintained my curiosity for a bit, the conclusion was completely unsatisfactory. The buildup to Ada being dead - who cares. The author couldn't seem to decide what this book should be - murder mystery, family conflict, ties of one's hometown...or who the story should be about - Marne? Jane? Huck? And the great conflict between Marne and her Mom (Samuel) is poorly explained. The Scrabble game doesn't cut it for interest or metaphor. Ultimately a jumble that adds up to not much.

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Mar 14, 2013 Henriette Power rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read Game of Secrets during a rainy, cold week in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, while attending a rowing camp--in a world completely different from the intensely drawn setting of Dawn Tripp's novel. And yet I spent that whole week in a kind of half-dream, immersed in Tripp's imagined world of complicated and fraught relationships. Game of Secrets does a wonderful job of conveying the ways in which the secrets (!) and passions of the past continue to bind people's lives.

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Jul 10, 2011 Karen M rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, own, fiction

This beautifully written book sneaks up on you. It quietly, gently captures you in a web of secrets. The characters are written so clearly you can picture what they look like in your mind but seeing into their hearts is another matter.

Two families drawn together thru secrets, lies and a murder. And now they are being drawn together again through secrets revealed and a growing attraction between the youngest members of the two families, Ray and Marne.

The stories of Luce, the father who was murder...more

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Jun 16, 2012 Rachel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads

This was a beautiful and engaging novel. The little blurbs describe it as more of a murder mystery type book, which is not how I read it. To me, it was all about the characters and the writing. The author weaves together these lives from various time periods, always coming back to these two women playing Scrabble together. This is a book that I will keep and reread, and I am so glad to have won this from goodreads giveaways!

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Jun 04, 2011 Caroline Leavitt rated it 5 of 5 stars

This haunting, exquisitely written novel is about the secrets we choose to tell and the ones we want to keep. I was mesmerized from page one. Over the course of a board game, two women reveal their paths--and each other. You quickly become deeply invested in both the characters and the plot, and it's no wonder that Tripp has the stellar literary reputation that she has.

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Jun 21, 2012 Carol Hassett rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

This is the first book I've read by this author so I'm not sure if all her books are this difficult to read. There was a murder and she finally told who the murderer was but the rest
of the book was such a hodgepodge that I couldn't get a grasp on any of it. I didn't care for
the way she jumped from current to past on so many characters because it made the book very frustrating and I kept having to go back and see what she had written about that character. Will not read any more of her books.

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Quotes from Game of Secrets: A Novel

“She writes only in pencil, as if the words might need to be revoked--borrowed words, for the most part, plucked out of other mouths...” — 4 people liked it

“He'd dust the dirt off with his fingers, wash it in his mouth so it came lean off his tongue like a language.” — 2 people liked it

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title link	preview: Game of Secrets: A Novel
avg rating	preview: Game of Secrets: A Novel Goodreads rating: 3.19 (199 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10177278-game-of-secrets?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320563705l/10177278.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10177278-game-of-secrets?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Game of Secrets: A Novel by Dawn Tripp[/url]

Game of Secrets: A Novel

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