Why do we keep secrets and why do we confess them? The nine tales in this collection, all told in the first person, are each spun around a well-kept secret, willingly or inadvertently confessed. Sometimes the secrets are at the core of the narrator’s life, other times they appear tangential. Regardless of the magnitude of its burden, the confession finds its way to the reader, through a story told perhaps over a cup of tea, in the pages of a journal or within the intimacy of the narrator’s mind. Would stories mean as much to us if they did not remind us of our own secrets and regrets, our stolen moments, our ecstatic failures and sad joys? The stories are confessions of intimate events or desires: marital infidelities, betrayal of friendship, crimes including murderous thoughts and actual acts of murder as well as the painful words of those who consider themselves superior directed at those of lesser financial means who perform necessary tasks for them. Most of the stories are set outside of North America, particularly in Turkey, so they have a fresh cultural aspect at the same time as they convey the commonality of human greed, betrayal and heartbreak.

Loren Edizel was born in Izmir, Turkey and has lived in Canada most of her life. The Ghosts of Smyrna was published in Turkey in 2008 by Senocak Yayinlari (trans. Roza Hakmen) and then published in Canada under the same title in 2013. Her 2011 novel, Adrift, published in 2011, was longlisted for the ReLit Awards in 2012. She lived in Montreal for over 20 years. She currently lives in Toronto.

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