The Safe-Keeper's Secret (Safe Keepers Series #1)

by Sharon Shinn

Overview

The Safe-Keeper's Secret is a journey into a vibrantly crafted fantasy world, overflowing with questions of truth and self-discovery. 

Damiana is safe-keeper in the small village of Tambleham. Neighbors and strangers alike come one by one, in secret, to tell her things they dare not share with anyone else, knowing that Damiana will keep then to herself. One late night, a mysterious visitor from the city arrives with an unusual secret for the Safe-Keeper—a newborn baby. Damiana, who is expecting her own child, agrees to take the foundling. She names him Reed and raises him side by side with her daughter, Fiona. And the years pass and the two children grow into teenagers, they must come to terms with who they are—and who they may be.

"The most promising and original writer of fantasy to come along since Robin McKinley."—Peter S. Beagle, best-selling author of The Last Unicorm

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780142403570
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	11/03/2005
Series:	Safe Keepers Series , #1
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	4.28(w) x 6.95(h) x 0.66(d)
Age Range:	12 - 16 Years

About the Author

Sharon Shinn (www.sharonshinn.net) had won the William C. Crawford Award for Outstanding New Fantasy Writer, and was twice nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Her sequence of Samaria novels have been Locus best-sellers, and her novel Summers at Castle Auburn was named an ALA Best Books for Young Adults. Sharon graduated from Northwestern University and has lived in the Midwest most of her life.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for The Safe-Keeper's Secret

"Teens will connect with Shinn's vividly drawn fantasy world as well as her provocative questions about truth, justice, and individual destiny."—Booklist

"The most promising and original writer of fantasy to come along since Robin McKinley."—Peter S. Beagle, best-selling author of The Last Unicorn
 

From the Publisher

Gr 6-9-This historical tale is set in what is clearly England in a time that feels like the Norman era. Damiana is a Safe-Keeper, whose job is to listen to the secrets people confide in her and then to keep them to herself. She lives with her daughter, Fiona, and Reed, whom readers are told was a foundling. Others in the village also have special gifts including being a Dream-Maker and a Truth-Teller. The story portrays rural village life with a strong, loving extended family. However, everything changes for the young people when, at 15, they are sent to spend the summer with Damiana's sister. Reed lives with a merchant who gives him some experiences in his trading business while Fiona studies with a herbalist to learn the art of healing. On their return home, they find that their mother is dying. Before she dies, Damiana shares a secret with Fiona that she pledges to keep secret until the time she knows it is right to tell. Fiona takes on the role of Safe-Keeper but finds that this is not her true calling. Shinn writes well and has created a variety of interesting characters. The unraveling of a family secret at the end comes as a complete surprise, but rather than adding to the story, it feels a little like a cheat. Still, this does not detract significantly from the story.-Jane G. Connor, South Carolina State Library, Columbia Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

In this lyrically written medieval fantasy, a Safe-Keeper in the village of Tambleham receives a newborn baby from a mysterious visitor, on the same night that she gives birth to a daughter. Safe-Keepers, found throughout the kingdom, listen to people's secrets and "understand silence." Damiana raises Fiona and Reed alone, but is part of a strong nurturing community made up of her sister, also a Safe-Keeper, Thomas the Truth-Teller, Elministra, a healer and herbalist with whom Fiona apprentices, and Isadora the Dream-Maker. In Shinn's vividly imagined world, everyone has a part to play, from the Safe-Keeper to the Truth-Teller, from the midwife to the undertaker, and the supernatural aspects of secrets, truths, wishes are woven into the fabric of everyday life. As Fiona grows up, she struggles to balance her desire to be a Safe-Keeper with her passion for justice. Reed too searches for who he is, stirred by his unknown parentage. The ending, with its revelations of true identity and hints of romance, is quite satisfying. A compelling, richly layered tale. (Fantasy. 12+)

Kirkus Reviews