Abstract
The Art of Secrets is a fictional story that centers on the rocky relationship between 23-year-old Pippa Bronson and her mother. Pippa, a recent college graduate living outside the city, must return to North Carolina after receiving news that her mother is injured and in need of help at home. Conflicted by her situation, Pippa must face the reality of returning to the small town she tried to leave behind, while anticipating the distance she has let grow between her and her mother after the disappearance of her father in Iraq many years before. She is shocked to find her old living room in complete disrepair, seeing the years that have passed in the mass of objects that her mother has accumulated there. While helping her mother sift through the mess, she finds objects that bring up memories from her childhood, forcing herself to question how things got this way. She battles with a solution to the problem, unwilling to admit that it may be impossible to fix a bond that has already been broken. 
