The Secret-Keepers’ Stories by Joyce Lewis-Andrews

Set in the hills and hazards of western Pennsylvania’s twentieth century, The Secret-Keepers’ Stories is an anthology of over fifty oral histories and tales spun and passed down by eleven storytellers of Annie Williams’ household. When all they had of value were their stories to pass on, this working-class family crafted their setbacks and comebacks into extraordinary tales, rebranded heartache into psalms, teased proverbs out of misery, and created a happily-ever-after into what they could. A passion and purpose for coincidences, ironies, and story-making ran through their blood. But so did a curse and a couple of reasons for secret-keeping.

Part memoir and part biography, the book is written as a tribute to the power and vulnerabilities of the stories, storytellers, and storylines that define who we are, who we’re not, who we were, and who we still might be.