NEW RELEASE
Coco's Secret - Niamh Greene (2013)
Coco Swan lives with her grandmother, Ruth, after her mother passed away when she was young. Though her friends think she needs to move on and go out on her own, Coco is more than content to stay around and work in the family antique shop. When she finds a valuable Coco Chanel bag at the bottom of a box of junk, however, her life is changed. Inside the bag is a letter which seems to beg Coco to find its recipient if it's the last thing she does. Almost immediately she sets off on a quest to reunite the bag and its owner but discovers a lot more about herself in the process. While Coco is a sweet character, the issue with her name bewildered me a bit. In a day and age where people are naming their children all sorts of things, it doesn't seem like there would be as much issue with Coco as there was. Her embarrassment over her name was slightly ridiculous and detracted from the real story a bit. Otherwise, Coco's journey to reunite the Chanel bag and its owner was a charming one with a cast full of well-meaning characters each facing their own dilemmas. (AS)
Niamh Greene's latest novel Coco's Secret is about a young woman finally finding courage to reinvent herself. The summary says: "Coco Swan has always been embarrassed by her name. With a name like Coco, she thinks people expect her to be as exotic and glamorous as the famous designer, not an ordinary-looking small-town antiques dealer who could win an award for living cautiously. But when a vintage Chanel handbag turns up in a box of worthless bric-a-brac, Coco's quiet world is turned upside down. Where did it come from? And is it just coincidence that it's the same bag Coco's late mother always wanted for her? When Coco discovers a mysterious, decades-old letter hidden in the bag's lining, she sets off on a quest to piece together the story behind it, stumbling across secrets that span three generations as she goes. Could the beautiful Chanel bag be about to teach Coco more than she wants to learn? Or will it show her just where her heart can take her if she lets it lead the way?" Coco's Secret is out in August 2013.