Mona's Secret — J.C. Peterson

MONA'S SECRET is about deception and the terrible price it extracts. It is also about redemption. "After my murder I began to seek my truth and found it linked to love . . . " Franklin Jones narrates the story of his short life while his murderer, Mona Heid, proceeds living hers. An inquest into Franklin's death clears Mona. Traumatized by her terrible secret, Mona leaves her family home in Seattle and flies to Hong Kong to stay with her father, Tom Heid. Tom's household servant, Lihua, has escaped Mainland China's cultural revolution and finds refuge in Tom's home. Mona, appalled to see Lihua hampered by the outdated custom of foot binding, feels protective of the old woman and a friendship develops between them. In a dispute over her father's treatment of his servant, Mona takes Lihua with her and returns to Seattle. Her relationship with her father becomes increasingly contentious. Franklin's back-story and Mona's ongoing life reveal an intricate weave of connecting patterns. Franklin concludes, "Lihua is right: All our gods do reside within. We do create our own heaven or hell."