Mary's Secret

Shining out from glittering church icons, stained-glass windows, and classical European paintings Mary’s mysterious smile, in some way, touches all who view Her. Is it Her blessing, as we have been told? Or could it be a sweet memory still lingering on her lips that She has secreted away? This little story book tells what has been hidden for ages.

Oh what a joy to take a so familiar story, add an element that feels so natural, so positive, so human, so believable, and still keep the essence of the original message. For  anybody who suspected Mary’s secret all along, Mary’s Secret gives us a sense of Mary’s humanity while not in the least diminishing her “purity” or likeability. Claudette has captured some positive human attributes we all wish for ourselves and for each other and rolled them into a very readable, enjoyable story.

- Barry Gray
Founding member of the Kootenay Storytelling Guild and the Kootenay Storytelling Festival

About the author
Claudette RdV Burton is a Canadian writer, storyteller, and naturalist gardener living on a glacial bench overlooking Kootenay Lake near Nelson, British Columbia.

Mary’s Secret is her most recent young adult book that arose from a trip to Spain and Andorra in 2019 researching her matriarchal lineage. Several surprising twists and humourous encounters with pre-Catholic art in ancient Roman churches in the Pyrenees led to her writing out this pagan, feminist version of Mary’s betrothal to Joseph and all that might have happened. Through imagery this book encourages young women to question the validity of their society’s stories and a way to nurture their own inner wisdom.

Claudette’s first children’s novel The Porcupine Who Would was inspired by several funny encounters with porcupines on a field trip up the Westfall River to assess mountain caribou habitat and landscape connectivity. Much of her earlier writing focused on environmental research, local forestry politics, a gardening column and an article for Harrowsmith on Kootenay Doukhobor gardens.

She gives thanks to her muses – family, local wildlife, and numerous ‘spirits of place’–for their support and inspiration. 

By Claudette RdV Burton