Secrets of Spaulding Lane: Marni

By Amy Fillion

With her world shattered in an instant, can Marni ever regain the life she once knew...



Marni Westings has a close, intimate, and loving relationship with her sensitive twelve-year-old son, Xavier, and she knows how fortunate she is. Not every twelve-year-old boy would cuddle with his mother, would they? Not every boy would ask for his mother’s advice, or enjoyed such simple pleasures as walking his dog or exploring the wildlife in his neighborhood.

But when Xavier’s behaviors change, when he pulls back, Marni knows something is amiss. After speaking with her best friends, Marni believes the proximity of his teenage years and his changing body are the cause of her son’s behaviors. That is, until she finds her son slowly raising his father’s gun to his temple.

At that moment, her life is forever altered. Everything Marni thought she knew about her relationship with her son is shattered instantaneously.

Marni attempts to traverse her world, tries to learn all she can about what brought her son to that fateful moment with her best friends ever by her side, offering comfort and compassion.

A heart-wrenching, yet hopeful novel about the love a mother has for her son, Marni’s story will leave you wondering what is truly going on in the minds of those we hold so dear.