Angela and HP met in tenth grade. Angela and her family had just moved to Cove, Vermont, a small village by a lake. She was never a popular girl at school. but she liked it that way. HP was popular. He was good looking and a good athlete, and all the girls adored him. But he saw something in Angela, and a friendship formed between them almost as soon as they met.
They were best friends through three years of high school, and then after graduation, they became something more. Their relationship made it to the next level, and Angela saw her future for the first time. The future she hadn't cared about. The future her parents had planned for her, starting with a year at Oxford. Her father had pulled all the strings he could to get her in, and he wasn't going to let any teenage romance stand in the way of Angela's big future. So just a few months into Angela's and HP's new relationship, she had to pack up and go to England for a year of classes.
Angela enjoys her classes and loves the city of Oxford. She feels more at home there than she ever did in Vermont. She makes a good friend, Freddy Montgomery, who shows her around. And in the spring, HP and their friend Ezra come to England to visit her. The visit starts off like a dream, with Angela showing HP her favorite places and spending some time with her best friend. But at the May Ball, in the beer tent, HP meets a young Australian woman who takes up his time. Saskia is beautiful and full of life, and men are naturally attracted to her.
Now it's many years later. HP and Saskia are married, with a beautiful daughter. Angela finished her college degree in the States and found a job she loves, as an archivist. Freddy got his degree and moved to Boston. But Angela stays in Cove, near the happy family, even becoming godmother to Olive.
But when Saskia goes missing, it's Angela who sits in an interrogation room for hours, for days, telling Detective J. Novak about her whole relationship with HP, from the very beginning. She tells him repeatedly that she had nothing to do with Saskia's disappearance, but the detective doesn't believe her. Will she figure out how to make him believe the truth before it's too late? Or is it already too late?
Roz Nay's Our Little Secret is a page-turner of a thriller, as Angela's story slowly unfolds through awkward teenage angst to first love to loss. Her story is smart and heart-breaking and compelling. I had a hard time putting this book down, and I couldn't wait to race to the final pages to find out how Angela's story ends. I highly recommend this to all fans of psychological thrillers. It's fantastic!
Galleys for Our Little Secrets were provided by St. Martin's Press, with many thanks.