Secrets and the Revelation of Secrets

The impacts of secrets and their discovery serve as a source of destruction for the central characters and their relationships in Eight Hundred Grapes. The undercurrent of secrets runs through the story to touch most of the characters in ways that will forever change them.

The story's main secret is the one that Ben has kept from Georgia: the fact that he has a daughter from a prior relationship with a beautiful celebrity. Ben's daughter is four-and-a-half years old, and even though he just recently found out about her existence, it is a problem that he did not tell his fiancée, Georgia, about the little girl. Honesty about all things is crucial in serious personal relationships and Ben’s decision to not tell Georgia does major damage to what they have.

Compounding this deceit is the fact that Ben had...