Secret Keepers

In Teresa Tumminello Brader’s follow-up to her New Orleans memoir, Letting In Air and Light, Secret Keepers expands the question of whether we can ever truly know our loved ones. This collection of character-driven short stories delves intimately into romantic and family relationships-- some fractured, some fragile, all troubled by mysteries for which there may be no clear answers. One woman convinces herself of a husband’s affair that may or may not be imagined; other families struggle to rebuild amidst the wreckage of hurricanes and severed family ties. Compelling stories of betrayal and regret intertwine with thoughtful depictions of strong women seeking more authentic lives. Within the familiar world of South Louisiana, Brader’s characters navigate obsession, loss, and a tentative hope that some connections are still worth trying to keep.

Teresa Tumminello Brader is a New Orleanian, spurred on to writing by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. She has a bachelor of arts in English from Marquette University, her four years in Milwaukee the only time she lived away from the city of her birth. Her short stories, essays, poetry, and reviews can be found at various online literary sites, as well as in print anthologies. Her first book, Letting In Air and Light, was published by Belle Point Press in 2023.