Faith and Connie endured the same childhood as daughters of egocentric actors. In adulthood they’ve become distant — Connie a flight attendant who travels the world, Faith the divorced mother of two sons. But when the past pays them an unexpected visit, their early bond must also reappear as they redefine what it means to be part of a family.

REVIEWS

“Secret Language has a beautifully sustained narrative, remarkable for its clarity and depth. For a first novel, it's a stunner.”
Detroit Free Press

“Meet Faith and Connie Spaulding, the unforgettable siblings in Monica Wood’s Secret Language...a graceful and insightful literary debut, brimming with emotion and depth. With simple and subtle language, Wood captures the complex relationship between two sisters.”
The Boston Phoenix

“Wood’s debut novel is a fiercely lyrical study of two sisters...She writes with sensitivity and intuitive insight about relationships coming apart and the walls people erect to keep others out.”
Publishers Weekly

“Deft and delicate...I can think of no more impressive recent debut of a novelistic voice, one that speaks not to our minds, but to our hearts.”
Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel

“Buy this book if you can, borrow it if you can’t, but read it. A novel this good–realistic and hopeful at once–is a marvel.”
Maine Progressive

“Monica Wood tells the story of Faith and Connie Spaulding with such compelling honesty, this reader was lifted out of her seat and into the hearts of these sisters. I believed it all...Secret Language is powerful work that never slips into melodrama and promises a bright future for Wood and her readers.” –Maine in Print

“This novel’s great strength lies in the author's description of how human beings interact, how people use the past to create sustaining and damaging mythologies. The prose is crisp and not a word is wasted. Wood has taken a long, deep look at life in our time and provided fresh insight into human nature.”
Maine Sunday Telegram

“[Wood] has written pitch-perfect dialogue, rendered the sustaining rhythms and tones of family life, and demonstrated with understated wisdom and beautiful language some of the rules that govern the human heart.”
Casco Bay Weekly