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A Secret Kept


"A seductive, suspenseful, and trés formidable keeper" - Publishers Weekly
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Do you see any parallels between the author's descriptions of the Gois Passage and the story as a whole?

Created: 10/06/11

Replies: 6

Posted Oct. 06, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert

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Do you see any parallels between the author's descriptions of the Gois Passage and the story as a whole?

Part of the novel takes place on Noirmoutier Island which is connected to the west coast of France by the Gois Passage. Why is Antoine so attached to Gois Passage? Do you see any parallels between the author's descriptions of this place and the story as a whole?


Posted Oct. 10, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
bevula

Join Date: 10/18/10

Posts: 40

RE: Do you see any parallels between the author's descriptions of the Gois Passage and the story as a whole?

I was fascinated by all the possibilities of the Gois Passage as a metaphor. It works for secrets kept, it works for buried feelings, it works for the passage of time, and for the evolution of personality. I'm a sucker for this kind of thing. Reading this book made me want to go to France just so I could watch the tide come in and go out on this road.


Posted Oct. 11, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
joyces

Join Date: 06/16/11

Posts: 410

RE: Do you see any parallels between the author's descriptions of the Gois Passage and the story as a whole?

I see the forever and always covering and uncovering of this passage as metaphor for life for the people in the story in that things are always changing but are also always the same. And the changes in their lives are also just another change but the life goes on just as time and tides go on whether we like it or not.


Posted Oct. 12, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
karenh

Join Date: 10/06/11

Posts: 4

RE: Do you see any parallels between the author's descriptions of the Gois Passage and the story as a whole?

Absolutely! The Gois was deliciously "dangerous" and was a great metaphor for the question: what truly lies beneath? without being too in-your-face. It wasn't until I got toward the end of the book and Antoine was riding across there on the motorcycle with Angele that it hit me. I thought it tied in well (in some books I've read, the author spoon feeds the figurative meanings and they lose their effectiveness that way). Additionally, as someone who grew up near the coast I found the idea of a passage that can only be used a low tide fascinating in itself.


Posted Oct. 14, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
christineb

Join Date: 10/13/11

Posts: 120

RE: Do you see any parallels between the author's descriptions of the Gois Passage and the story as a whole?

I thought the descriptions of the Gois Passage truly mirrored the ebbs and flows of the lives of all the characters in the novel. Its appearance was daily as was the secret that lay underneath their daily existence. I love the ending when Angele conquered the Gois and took Antoine along for its fascinating ride.


Posted Oct. 15, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
pschulze

Join Date: 08/08/11

Posts: 5

RE: Do you see any parallels between the author's descriptions of the Gois Passage and the story as a whole?

i enjoyed all of the discussion of this question. so much is hidden in the passage and in Antoine's life. Angele's conquering of the Gois leaves the hope of Antoine conquering his past and coming alive in the present.


Posted Nov. 07, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
ruthd

Join Date: 09/12/11

Posts: 5

RE: Do you see any parallels between the author's descriptions of the Gois Passage and the story as a whole?

I believe that the Gois Passage in the story was an important vehicle for the building of the entire story. It was intended to be a romantic setting for remembering good times (per Antoine). However, Melanie's memories were quite different than Antoine's, and this entrance via the Gois set the scene for the whole story.

At the latter part of the book, Antoine's thrilling ride with Angele across the causeway served to emphasize their more liberal thinking that was not shared by Melanie. Antoine just wanted to gift Melanie with the secret, and wasn't able to consider the consequences of revealing it to others in the family. Malanie was very emotional about it all, and wanted to protect her mother's image, and to honor her upbringing by not letting other family members know that she knew what they considered a secret to be kept forever. It was very poignant.


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