The Secret Journals of Nell Clarke

"The Secret Journals of Nell Clarke" is a book about love, pain, and memory. Nell's journal paints a portrait of a marriage against the backdrop of the history of farm life on the Canadian prairie.

Nell describes an epic journey that moves from attending a joyous family wedding in Dorset, England, to the harsh realities of being a farm wife. Beginning in 1903, these journals paint a historical portrait of rural life during the first half of the century. Nell Clarke's journals are packed full of details about struggling against disasters: mice infestations, blizzards, fire, hailstorms, plagues of grasshoppers, and drought, but Nell also writes of happy times with her four daughters, and times full of music, laughter, and excitement.

However, the major theme running through her journal reveals a deeper story of a troubled inner journey. Her journals are dominated by her lifelong obsession with Bert Townsend, the man she follows to Canada when she is nineteen. They marry, but their marriage begins with a lie, which marks the beginning of many secrets in Nell's life. Complex problems of jealousy, addiction, and constant ill health contribute to the secret life Nell lives as she ages.

Nell's journals weave an intensely personal story that is alternately filled with wonder and despair, hope and desperation, written in a voice that reaches out to hold our imaginations until the end.