SOLVED. Childrens/teens book (read it in the 90’s) called The Secret? (Not the positive thinking, self help book) read it in the 90’s. [s]

[Julie]

Hoping someone can help me find a book I read in the mid 90’s, while at school. I’m sure it was called The Secret. It’s a fairly old paperback possibly published before 1997 as my whole English class had to read it together and the books looked tired by then.
It was about a brother and sister who had been left home alone overnight by their mother, before she left she told them not to tell anyone she was gone. During her night away, the mother was involved in an accident of some kind and lost her memory, her two children continued their days as normal, trying to keep up the pretence that mum was home. In one part the siblings went on a school trip, the sister pretended their sandwiches for the trip were roast chicken to a boy in her class, the sandwich was just plain dry bread in reality. During the school trip to the beach, the sister, along with the younger brother decided to go and physically find their mum by sneaking off from the group. I’m sure the trip was to the beach or near the sea at least. I cannot remember any of the characters names. The mum was in hospital struggling to remember her own name, let alone if she had children or not.
Hope this is making sense and jogs some memories, I absolutely loved this book but as we were reading it as part of our English literature lesson when I was 11, I paid no attention to the authors name, nor the cover illustrations. If anyone can help, it would be much appreciated. Many thanks for reading!

[Annamariah]

I searched worldcat.org for juvenile fiction published before 1997 with keyword "mother" and title "secret" and found The Secret by Ruth Thomas. Could it be your book?

[Julie]

Yes Annamariah! Thank you so much! :-) I’ve tried all kinds of book searches, but drew a blank.

[Annamariah]

You're welcome :)