64 pages • 2-hour read
Want to Know a Secret?
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Symbols & Motifs
“Want to Know a Secret?”
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of harassment and death.
“Want to Know a Secret?” is a motif throughout the novel. The phrase is repeated in many contexts, particularly surrounding April’s cooking show, where she reveals a “secret” to her audience about each of the baked goods that she does. Julie also uses the phrase in a threatening manner when she texts April from the unknown number, saying things like “Want to know a secret? Your son isn’t where you think he is” (8-9). In this way, the phrase serves both friendly and sadistic purposes, used as a happy line for April to connect with her viewers and as an ominous warning from Julie.
This motif emphasizes the theme of Public Appearance Versus Private Persona for both April and Julie. The phrase implies a duality that exists within April: she is a happy, cheerful person who loves baking on her YouTube channel, while in reality, she is a murderer who does not even eat her baked goods. For Julie, the phrase is used to taunt April, revealing her vindictive, calculating nature as she seeks revenge against April for what she has done. The phrasing of the quote reflects this duality, as the words themselves are both friendly and ominous.
Additionally, the phrase emphasizes the impact that suburban life has on the characters in the novel. The phrase implies the existence of gossip, as the speaker is inviting the listener into a conspiratorial conversation. In this way, the words encapsulate the neighborhood in which Julie and April exist: their lives revolve around the gossip they gather from the other housewives. Fearing judgment from the other women—as April constantly judges them—April’s life revolves around being well-liked and respected in the suburban community; in doing so, she tries desperately to avoid secrets being told about her, including her responsibility for Courtney and Doris’s deaths.
Book Club
The book club group that the women in the neighborhood attend is a symbolic representation of the façade of their lives. April explains that “we never end up actually discussing the book. We talk about it for five minutes, then we end up discussing our husbands for another thirty minutes, then our kids for another thirty minutes, then clothing for another thirty minutes” (104). Ironically, she thinks how “really, there’s no time to discuss the book” (104-105). These thoughts about the book club are ironic, as April does not want to do the very thing that a book club is supposed to do: discuss the book. Instead, the women use the book club to gather and gossip about their community. In this way, it represents the theme of Public Appearance Versus Private Persona. Publicly, the women in the community want to give the perception that they are having an intellectual discussion about books—with April even choosing books that she considers academic. In reality, the club symbolizes the false lives that they have created, as they consider the books trivial in comparison to the gossip about their community.
April’s Baking
April’s baking symbolizes the emptiness of her life. On the surface, she projects a happy and cheerful image, presenting herself to her viewers as a woman who loves baking for her family. In reality, she does not even eat her own treats, taking only one bite to show in front of the camera. YouTube becomes an obsession for April, as she constantly reads—and deletes—the negative comments, stressing over her viewership and coming up with gimmicks, like using her mother, to make herself more popular.
Central to the identity that April creates is her baked goods, which she also uses to become more popular in the community. Each time that April faces a conflict or wants to get ahead in the community, such as when she wants to help Owen join the soccer team or when Bobby inadvertently breaks Loe’s nose, April relies on her baking to help her get an advantage. For example, after Bobby is blamed for pushing Leo off the slide, April decides to bake a pie for Julie. Elliot warns her against speaking with Julie at all while she is upset, but April insists that “he underestimates the power of the pie” (189). Instead of relying on her friendships, good deeds, or respect in the community, April instead uses baked goods to manipulate the people in the community to respect and appreciate her.
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