A First Novel – At 85

The Secrets They Kept is the story of a young woman’s quest to discover the truth about her mother’s unexplained death and her own identity in the face of tight-lipped evasions from her secretive family.
It is also a first novel from a writer in her eighties.
Jenny Lynch is a former NZ Woman’s Weekly editor and magazine feature writer. She explains why she felt compelled to tackle this project, and how she brought it to fruition.

Many years ago my grandmother told me about a tragedy involving a young woman, a distant cousin, that took place in the early years of last century. The story haunted me. I longed to write about it.

Now, some 70 years later I have. Not my relative’s actual story but an imaginary one I have built around her.

During my almost 30 years in journalism I dealt in facts, so the thought of launching into fiction was rather daunting.

However, I am a firm believer age should not prevent you from doing what you want to do, within reason. So I had to give it a go.

I have always been curious about people – the way they live their lives, their beliefs, and the motives behind the surprising and sometimes appalling things they do. It was what drew me to journalism. And my work in magazines – interviewing everyone from celebrities to psychics (and a few shady characters as well) – provided a wealth of material to incorporate into my relative’s story.

To my surprise, I found marrying fact with fiction wasn’t as difficult as I had expected. Giving reign to my imagination became a liberating experience.

I began to write what became The Secrets They Kept about 15 years ago. The project followed a long and winding road marked by pot holes and ‘stop’ and ‘go’ signs before reaching its final destination.

Initially it was just a short story. Then one day, I had what I suppose you could call my eureka moment. The plot of the entire book, with its surprising twists, turns and startling conclusion, just ‘arrived’ in my head..

I worked on the manuscript on and off for perhaps 18 months, adding details to the narrative and developing the various characters.

It was vital to make those characters absolutely believable. Even something as seemingly insignificant as giving them appropriate names needed careful consideration. I relied on personal preferences. The heroine had to be someone to whom readers would respond with affection and concern. So I called her Helena. It’s a name I love. By contrast, a particularly obnoxious male landed up with one I dislike, Dougie (I’m sure there are some very nice  Dougies out there) .

There were, however, traps for a novice novelist. I had almost decided on Aunt Betty for Helena’s great-aunt until I discovered that ‘Aunt Betty’  was also a well-known brand of heat-and-eat puddings! ( She became Aunt Bernice.)

Some of my characters evolved from bits and pieces of people I had met over the years. Others bore not the slightest resemblance to anyone I had ever known. Like the plot itself they just ‘arrived’. Eventually, however, each imaginary person became as vividly real to me as a member of my own (decidedly more everyday) family.

The Secrets They Kept is narrated by Helena, herself. So the most challenging part of the whole project was getting inside Helena’s head and letting her tell the story in her own words. While doing so I felt myself actually becoming Helena and feeling her emotions. In other words, I inhabited Helena much as an actor inhabits the roles he or she plays. I was  familiar with the technique as I had been an actor in my early twenties.

There was no need to call on imagination to describe the novel’s setting. I am an Aucklander and much of the action takes place in districts of the city I know well. However, because the time-line extends from the 1960s into the late ’80s I had to make sure I accurately described those districts as they were during those years. Overseas destinations also feature – Helena makes enlightening discoveries during her O.E. – and all but one of these are real, as well.

I sent a first draft to several well-known publishers. The general verdict: ‘publishable but not for us’. I wasn’t deterred. I knew I had a gripping tale to tell, but obviously I wasn’t telling it well enough. I decided to put the manuscript on the back burner. For a while.

During my magazine days I had found, if dissatisfied with an article I was writing, I should set it aside for a bit – deadline permitting, of course. A fresh look usually revealed where the text needed amending.

With The Secrets They Kept that ‘bit’ extended over many months and it led to a significant revision. I sent the resulting manuscript to an independent editorial assessor for a constructive critique. This is something I recommend to aspiring authors. Sometimes you can get so close to your subject you can’t see the wood for the trees. New eyes can penetrate those trees. The feedback: ‘Good but could be better.’ The assessor gave various tips for improvement. I followed those tips and In late 2022 my third revise was accepted for publication.

However, there was still more work for me to do, Secrets needed a final polish. Here I learned an important lesson: Never underestimate the value of a good book editor. The editor who handled my offering was absolutely meticulous. Again it was a case of fresh eyes. Certain matters needed clarification. My grammar also came under scrutiny. Even seasoned  journalists can make mistakes with that.

So there you have it – my first novel at 85. A labour of love – and a lesson in perseverance!

The Secrets They Kept by Jenny Lynch ( Mary Egan Publishing) RRP $38.

Read more about The Secrets They Kept here