Secrets On the Family Farm

by Dominic Cibrario

During July of 1951 Adam is traumatized on the family farm in Wisconsin. He's unable to tell his parents what happened to him in the barn. Burdened by his secret, the ten-year-old boy begins to exhibit bazaar behavior. His worried parents don't know how to help him. They are preoccupied with earning a living and their own secrets. Adam's father, Giovanni Montanya, leaves the farm each morning to work on the assembly line at Nash Motors with Uncle...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1419684914
• ISBN13: 9781419684913
• Release Date: August 2008
• Publisher: Booksurge Publishing
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A Book that Stays with You

Dominic Cibrario's Secrets on the Family Farm is a novel significant beyond its plot. Cibrario sets a scene familiar to most readers, an idyllic family farm in Wisconsin, and describes it well. However, as eight year old Adam observes on the novel's first page, "This farm ain't no Garden of Eden." Many of its secrets are revealed quickly, in an intentionally jarring scene involving young Adam in the farm's barn. Other secrets are revealed more slowly, as the book begins to explore the delicate and often muddled relationship between Catholic clergy and laity. As Adam hides what happens in the barn, the adults in his life, including the priests, meant to intercede between God and Man, are busy hiding secrets of their own. Like Cibrario's other works, Secrets on the Family Farm includes numerous references to classic literature and classic films. The references are appropriate for the time period in which the novel takes place, and are a delight for educated readers. If the novel has a weakness, that weakness is too much information, often imparted through dialogue. Many references to the characters' past experiences prove relevant, but others never connect to the primary plot. The extra information is forgivable, however, because the book deals with such heavy subject matter, and because it sets the general atmosphere in which the events occur. The characters in this novel seem to have one thing in common. While their reasons differ, nobody feels that they are living the life they are meant to live. Society's rigid definitions of "Priest," "mother," "father," "soldier" and "man" keep these characters chained to lives they know are imperfect. Men don't talk about their feelings, wives submit to their husbands, priests are celibate, and any deviation from standard gender roles is taboo. Perhaps this is what makes this set of characters so compelling--each of them knows the mold he or she is meant to fit, and each of them fails to fit it. Today's society is more accepting of female ambition, homosexuality, and post-traumatic stress, but some of the constraints readers see in Secrets on the Family Farm remain. In particular, the Catholic Church expects priests to behave in the same manner it did in 1951. Ultimately, each of Cibrario's characters is well-rounded and complex. The reader cares what happens to each of them in the end. In addition to the compelling issues and characters in this novel, the plot keeps the reader turning the pages. Most readers will find it impossible to put down once the final events begin to unfold. Cibrario's execution of a shocking and fast-paced plot does not disappoint and the depth of the societal issues explored here is on par with his prior novels. Nothing is predictable here; readers will be entertained until the last page. If you're looking for a book that will stay with you long after you close it, written by an American author who has yet to receive the critical recognition he dese

a great tale

The author really knows how to spin a good yarn. Almost from the opening lines the reader sits on the edge his chair. This is one of those books that, once started, is difficult to put down. It is told in a most believable manner and though I do not know the area around Kenosha (where the novel takes place) the descriptions are so real that I came to know the town and its surroundings. And all the characters of the story are wonderfully created complete with all their fears and foibles; almost all of them hold secrets. This is truely an enjoyable book to read, even though it deals with some pretty difficult subject matter such as child sexual abuse.

Secrets onf the farm

Secrets on the Family Farm is a fascinating novel about a family and their struggles in the early fifties. The setting is very real and any one who grew up on a farm can relate to the characters, happenings, and daily life on a farm. Kenosha Wisconsin is the setting and is described in great detail. One is able to be at the various farmers' market and see, hear and actually touch the vegetables and people there. The secrets are kept and slowly unfold. The family struggles with the economics and the political situation of the times. Gertrude must face her secrets as must the other members of the family. Gertude is a real person suffering from the effects that the Korean War had on families and on women at that time. Life on the farm was dull compared to her earlier life in the city. Her husband and brother must keep the secrets from the war and effects of coming back from combat away from other members of the family. Daily life becomes mundane and they look for excitement and escape from their feelings. The reader can really become part of the family and feel the fear, joy, anticipation, sorrow, and love as the secrets are slowly uncovered. It is an excellent book with detailed descriptions and action that hold the reader's interest.

A Punch to the Bread Basket

I have the great fortune to have grown up in the area that the author describes in copious detail from the rural road where the actual farm is located to the places that were the background for the events of the story. Reading the novel was like taking a walk down memory lane...to a point. Who knew what mysteries occurred behind the plain looking farm houses and sturdy barns? It just goes to show us that trauma can occur in the most laid back of locations and to the most innocent among us: children. The admonition not to tell is at the root of so much long term emotional illness and the author shows us that it can rear its ugly head at the most inopportune times. Wear gloves so that your sweating hands won't spoil the cover.

SECRETS

HAVING LIVED IN KENOSHA DURING MUCH OF THE TIME OF THIS BOOK, I FOUND IT AMAZING THAT HIS MEMORY AND DESCRIPTION OF EVENTS, PLACES AND PEOPLE COULD EVOKE SUCH STRONG MEMORIES! EVERYTHING HE WRITES ABOUT HAS THE FLAIR OF ONE WHO NOT ONLY LIVED THERE, BUT ALSO WAS PART OF THE HISTORY AND EVENTS THAT TOOK PLACE, EXCEPT FOR THE VIOLENCE. YET, THE VIOLENCE WAS SO DEEP-SET THAT ONE WAS RIGHT THERE, EXPERIENCING ALL THE EMOTIONS AND TERROR THAT WERE FELT BY THOSE IN THE BOOK. IT TAKES A GREAT WRITER TO EVOKE SUCE STRONG FEELINGS THAT YOU'RE SURE YOU'VE BEEN THERE AND WANT TO NURTURE THE UNDERDOG! I GUESS IT'S TRUE YOU CAN NEVER GO HOME AGAIN, BUT IN THIS BOOK, I WAS THERE AGAIN, LIVING AND LOVING ALL THE EVENTS, PLACES, SMELLS, AND EVEN SOME OF THE TRAGEDIES. I HAVE WAITED FOR ALL OF NICK'S BOOKS, AND CAN' WAIT TO SEE WHAT HE HAS IN STORE FOR THE FUTURE. I THINK HIS WRITING CAN TAKE YOU TO PLACES YOU MAY NEVER GO AND EXPERIENCE THINGS YOU WILL NEVER EXPERIENCE, NOR MAYBE WANT TO EXPERIENCE FOR YOURSELF. HE DOES THIS SAFELY, AND WELL.