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I Meant to Tell You Paperback – August 23, 2022

by Fran Hawthorne (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 51 ratings
See all formats and editions
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"I Meant to Tell You kept me turning the pages late into the night.”
--Jennifer Coburn, USA Today best-selling author of Cradles of the Reich
 
When Miranda Isaac’s fiancé, Russ Steinmann, is being vetted for his once-in-a-lifetime dream job in the U.S. attorney’s office, the couple worries that Miranda’s parents' history as political activists in the Sixties could jeopardize Russ’ security clearance. But the real threat emerges when Russ’s future boss discovers that Miranda was arrested for felony kidnapping nearly a decade earlier—an arrest she’d never revealed to Russ. 
 
Miranda tries to convince Russ she was only helping her best friend, Ronit—caught up in a nasty custody battle—take her daughter to visit her parents in Israel. As Miranda struggles to prove that she’s not a criminal, she either makes matters worse or stumbles into more secrets. With everything she thought she knew upended, Miranda must face the truth about her family, herself, and her future marriage. 
 
I Meant to Tell You is "an absorbing, beautifully told story" of how tenaciously we hang onto family stories and what happens when we finally let go. 
 
 
FINALIST for the ERIC HOFFER BOOK AWARDS
FINALIST for the SARTON AWARD
FINALIST for the NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCE AWARDS (two categories)






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Previous page
  1. Print length
    260 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Stephen F. Austin University Press
  4. Publication date
    August 23, 2022
  5. Reading age
    18 years and up
  6. Dimensions
    6 x 0.75 x 9 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    1622889347
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1622889341
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Fran Hawthorne delivers a nuanced exploration of the connections among women – and how they can unravel when lies of omission are revealed. Told through the eyes of three women in different eras, I Meant to Tell You kept me turning the pages late into the night.”
--Jennifer Coburn, USA Today best-selling author of Cradles of the Reich
 
 
“Fran Hawthorne has written a wise, kind, and above all compassionate novel about the secrets we keep and the judgments we make.  Her insights into the human heart and mind are both original and illuminating; this is a big-hearted book that is sure to warm yours.” 
--Yona Zeldis McDonough, Fiction Editor of Lilith magazine 
 
 
“I Meant to Tell You opens with a white lie, a small dishonesty. But it widens to reveal that the people we think we know may all be hiding behind convenient mistruths. In that way it is a compelling portrait of our times, stuffed with richly drawn characters and alive with sharp and glimmering prose. A literary page-turner about how our pasts always catch up with us.” 
--Brian Castleberry, author of Nine Shiny Objects (long-listed for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction)
 
 
“An absorbing, beautifully told story about how tenaciously we hang onto family myths --and how, once one secret is revealed, other truths come into the light.” 
--Janice Steinberg, author of The Tin Horse (winner, San Diego Book Award)
 

About the Author

FRAN HAWTHORNE spent three-plus decades writing award-winning nonfiction, including eight books, before returning to her childhood love: writing fiction. I MEANT TO TELL YOU is her second published novel.
 

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Stephen F. Austin University Press (August 23, 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 260 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1622889347
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1622889341
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.75 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 51 ratings

About the author

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Fran Hawthorne

Fran Hawthorne

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For 30 years, Fran Hawthorne built a career as a journalist and

award-winning nonfiction author, specializing in health care, finance, and

the nexus of business and social activism. But all that was a detour: Since

2018 she’s published two novels, “The Heirs” and now her newest, I MEANT TO

TELL YOU, both from Stephen F. Austin State University Press. I MEANT TO TELL YOU has won or is a finalist for 7 awards, including the Eric Hoffer Book Award (finalist), the International Book Awards (finalist in two categories), and the National Indie Excellence Awards (finalist in two categories).

In her nonfiction life, her book “Ethical Chic” was named one of the best

books of 2012 by Library Journal. Her work has appeared in The New York

Times, BusinessWeek, Newsday, Self, and many other publications, and she

also writes reviews for the New York Journal of Books.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
51 global ratings
Fabulous!!!
5 Stars
Fabulous!!!
This book…..wow. It had every element that an amazing book has. There is family drama, friendship drama, and a bit of mystery suspense.Miranda helped her best friend Ronit with something years before meeting her fiancé. When Russ is being investigated for his dream job, things come to light. And that brings up even more things from Miranda’s mothers past that Miranda did not know about. This book was so well written and I could not put it down. Fabulous read!!!
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Top reviews from the United States

Pamela L Laskin
5.0 out of 5 stars The World of Secrets
Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2024
Verified Purchase
What if a deep, dark secret threatens to upend your life in harrowing ways? So begins Fran Hawthorne's brilliantly evocative book, I MEANT TO TELL YOU. Miranda, the main protagonist, never shared her story, of a misdemeanor seven years prior, with her fiance, Russ, one which severed a friendship. Since Russ is being vetted for a security job where he needs a security clearance, this omission is a huge risk for Miranda and their relationship.

The reader is immediately drawn into a powerful story of friendship; loss, trust; loyalty; the risks we take for those we love; and the mother-daughter bond, forever a challenge.

The writing is seamless in terms of plot and diction as the reader ventures into generational secrets and their potent potential to destroy relationships. It is a must read tour de force!
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LindaR
4.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing
Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2023
Verified Purchase
Secrets and lies always make for great story. Fran Hawthorne brings us an engaging one in I Meant to Tell You with characters you’ll long remember. Her creative prose brought me back to the tumultuous 1960s and kept me reading late into the night.
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Barbara Mazor
5.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable read - DC in 2000's and NYC 1960's
Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2024
Verified Purchase
I don't want to give away plot. This is a story about a young woman and her mother, each coming to terms with secrets from their pasts. Very likable characters and vivid descriptions of DC and NYC in the respective time periods.
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Baltic Mermaid
5.0 out of 5 stars A family drama with a whirlpool of secrets
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2023
Verified Purchase
"How many secrets could a marriage survive?” Miranda Isaacs asks herself this question when she faces a situation where she isn’t yet married but already a liar. Still, although the fact that she hasn’t been open with her fiancée is undeniable, she can’t reconcile with being called a liar. What she hadn’t told the man she plans to marry could have never surfaced at all. If he hadn’t been aiming at the job of his dreams in the U.S. attorney’s office, he and those close to him wouldn’t have been subjected to the strictest check. Alas, such checks are performed by high-class professionals from whom you can’t hide a needle in a haystack, let alone an arrest for child kidnapping.

“How many arrests could a marriage survive?" Miranda asks herself next. But before she can submit to despair – with her upcoming marriage being a fraction from cancelling and the man she loves requesting they take a break – she is drawn into the whirlpool of family secrets her mother had been keeping from her all three decades of her life.

“Forever nineteen and a half. Itching to rev the engine and join the Revolution. Summer of 1968, so he would’ve been heading to Chicago, to the big demonstrations at the Democratic National Convention.” This is the image Miranda has of her father whom she’d never met. The father who died when she was six months old. The father whom her mom has raised her to worship as a hero.

I won’t lie: most of all, I enjoyed the story of Miranda’s parents. I’ve always been fascinated by family secrets that get uncovered by unsuspecting descendants. And the story of Judith and Jerry, living their youth during the turbulent epoch of the 60s in America, is absolutely fascinating.

I couldn’t really relate to Miranda, for the reasons why she lied to her fiancée didn’t become clear to me. But I found it extremely intriguing to follow her – often erratic and unreasonable – actions while she desperately tried to sort out the troubles in her own life and come to terms with revelations about her parents.

In "I Meant to Tell You" by Fran Hawthorne, timelines and characters’ lives interweave, making the reader look at the events from different angles and reassess them as they read on. The settings – New York of the 60s and Washington of the 2000s – came alive on the pages for me. I walked the streets of New York with protesters against the war in Vietnam and trudged the alleys in the US capital with anti-Iraq war demonstrators, feeling how similar every generation’s aspirations and worries are.
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Richelle Pipski Gist
5.0 out of 5 stars A thought-provoking and exceptional read!
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2023
Verified Purchase
"I Meant to Tell You" is an exceptional novel that explores the struggles of a hard-working family across generations, while depicting significant historical events like the Civil Rights movement, The Triangle Factory fire, and the Iraq war. Fran's writing style is breathtaking, capturing the beautiful intricacies of the Jewish community with grace and poignancy. The themes of love, secrecy, deception, and forgiveness are masterfully woven into the story, and will leave readers gasping as layers of secrets and betrayals are exposed. Fran's use of vivid descriptions, such as "her flesh vibrated like a thousand harp strings" and "the highway guardrails glided by like ribbons unfurling," adds a poetic touch to the narrative. I was captivated from the first page and couldn't put the book down, reading it cover-to-cover during a five-hour flight. "I Meant to Tell You" is a true gem and showcases Fran's exceptional talent as a writer.
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williamsjc2k
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Read
Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2023
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The various secrets and unexpected twists kept my interest. I completed the book in a weekend….
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GiGi
5.0 out of 5 stars The Unintended Consequences of Secrets
Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2023
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“With a secret like that, at some point the secret itself becomes irrelevant. The fact that you kept it does not.” (Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants)

'I Meant to Tell You' is a book about friendship, family relationships, intimate relationships, and secrets, so many secrets. It is a story that pulls you in from the first unsettling chapter and holds you as you watch lives unravel and relationships fray, as truths are revealed. It is such a good read. I just recently discovered Fran Hawthore, and I am looking forward to reading her other books.
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Ellen
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2023
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Like “The Heirs” — Ms. Hawthornes first novel, “I Meant to Tell You” is everything a wonderful book should be: excellent writing, compelling characters, and a plot that raises questions you’ll think about after you’ve finished reading. I highly recommend this book.
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