Guardian Top 25 Best Australian Books for 2025
A gripping family saga about three generations fractured by secrets, and the three strong women who must bring them into the light.
Ruth, the widowed matriarch of a grown family, has only months to live, and a secret she's kept for sixty years. Now she must put things right before she dies. But as she has learned, the longer something is kept hidden, the harder it is to bring out of the shadows.
With her grandson in gaol and her family fractured, Ruth must address the past, present and future. She must reveal her secret, reconcile her family, and find a way to keep her beloved homestead, Cora, in the family – and her family in Cora.
A sweeping saga spanning more than half a century, Secrets has a cast of indelible characters whose lives have been devastated by racism, trauma, addiction, incarceration, loss and shame. Yet for all that their secrets break your heart, Ruth and her family ultimately leave it stronger. This spirited, compassionate novel is a testament to the power of truth-telling and the possibility of healing.
'An instant Australian classic.' Hayley Scrivenor
'A powerful debut of love and loss.' Petronella McGovern
'Epic, compelling and moving.' Inga Simpson
Judi Morison has Gamilaroi and Celtic heritage and lives on Gumbaynggirr Country. She has completed an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Technology Sydney, and her short fiction has been published in a number of anthologies. A member of the Ngana Barangarai (Black Wallaby) Indigenous Literary Project, she has had a long involvement with Dreaming Inside: Voices from Junee Correctional Centre and leads the Emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Writers Mentoring Program for South Coast Writers Centre. Secrets is her first novel, and in manuscript it won the 2022 Boundless Indigenous Mentorship, provided by Writing NSW and Text Publishing. Judi enjoys learning and using her Gamilaraay language. 'Emotionally rich and socially resonant, this is a compelling novel that speaks to Australia's complex history with sensitivity and insight.'
