A Southern Jewish girl married to a brilliant black artist embarks on an "upbeat, exuberant journey of discovery" in this novel of family and identity (Publishers Weekly).

Emma Tree's marriage is falling apart. Her artist husband Jesse's obsession with Skytop, the old inn he's renovating, pulls him further away from her. The distance has gotten so great that Emma must face some uneasy questions about their relationship—and about herself. Heading home to Louisiana, she seeks answers from the family she loves but barely knows.

After Emma's mother died, her father took her from Baltimore to West Cypress, Louisiana, where his new wife was waiting. For Rosalie Norris, the precocious young Emma was a dream come true. But by her teenage years, Emma has outgrown her stifling, provincial life in West Cypress.

After escaping to California to teach, Emma falls in love with Jesse Tree. Theirs is a passionate and loving relationship despite the vast differences between them—and a secret Emma must keep from her family. But that deception is nothing compared to the secrets they've kept hidden from Emma all these years. Secrets she is about to uncover on a journey home that will change her life forever . . .

"In Keeping Secrets Sarah Shankman has created a character as wise and wonderfully funny as Fear of Flying's Isadora Wing. This is a brilliant book." —Pat Conroy, New York Times–bestselling author of The Prince of Tides