Lola's Secret

By: Monica McInerney

Narrated by: Catherine Milte

Magic can happen in every family....

At the Valley View Motel in South Australia's picturesque Clare Valley, 84-year-old Lola Quinlan is up to her usual mischief. She's sent her family away for Christmas and invited a number of mystery guests to come and stay. But who are all these people, and why aren't they spending the festive season with their own loved ones? As the big day draws closer and Lola's personal family dramas threaten to unravel her plans, she discovers that at a special time of year, magic can happen in every family - especially your own.

From the bestselling author of At Home with the Templetons, here comes a funny, sad, and moving novel about memories and moments and the very meaning of life.

©2011 Monica McInerney (P)2012 Bolinda Publishing

Critic reviews

"A delicate treat… Lola’s Secret is a lovely, gentle story of a family, a Christmas, love and different kinds of adventure." (The Courier Mail)

“A moving and mostly gentle tale about age, family, love, loss and secrets... As each strand of the story is secured and resolved, the message is about the priority of family and the power of love … In Lola’s Secret, as in her other novels, McInerney's aim is unerringly true.” (The Gold Coast Bulletin)

"The book is hugely entertaining but also reminds us of the importance of thinking of others as McInerney draws beautiful and very convincing portraits of characters either depleted by the demands of modern life, desperately lonely or in need… But the best thing about this book is its sense of humour. Lola has a wacky sense of style and a shameless tongue. Her advice to her shy juniors will have readers blushing and her unorthodox approach to family problems will have them in stitches. McInerney is the mistress of the plot and weaves about five into this fine textured read." (The Sunday Tasmanian)

“McInerney's cast of a thousand chatty voices is etched effortlessly and resonantly by the end of chapter two and has been described as ‘comfort reading’ and ‘warm buttered toast’. Except McInerney’s protagonist is no pushover and there are no honey-dripped endings. This is full of grains of truth: it is never too late to live, but you are never too old to learn.” (The Australian Women's Weekly)

Not my favorite

The performance was amazing! But the book was not my favorite. It took me a lot longer to get through this one than any others of hers.