A year after her brother Preston perished in the destruction of her medical clinic, Margot Benedict is finally putting the pieces back together to reopen. She has spent the last year encouraging her romance with Major Frank Parrish and avoiding her mother's accusing looks with work. And Dr. Benedict has been relatively successful.
When her young cousin Allison Benedict is swamped in scandal Margot suggests to her father that they invite the young woman to Benedict Hall. Allison's mother has declared that the young woman is ruined after an escapade while returning from Europe and her Grand Tour. While Allison's only fault is finding friendship outside her parents' snobbish class, she is made to feel as if she is a great burden. Margot hopes having a young person in the house will bring Edith Benedict out of the stupor she sank into with Preston's death.
At first Allison believes Margot is complicit in the plans to punish her with banishment to Seattle, but when Margot is genuinely concerned for her cousin's welfare Allison begins to wonder if she's found an escape. Rowena Benedict enjoys having another young woman in the house whose interest is in fashion and the feminine arts, unlike Margot, but Allison's troubles follow her from her parents' San Francisco home.
Margot's relationship with Frank is strained when she develops a relationship with Margaret Sanger and her family planning initiatives. Like many in Seattle's Jazz Age, Frank believes birth control and family planning are something to be handled privately, Margot believes providing women the education to handle their families privately is the only way to proceed. It doesn't help that Frank is sent to California's March Airfield to examine their airplanes for the Boeing Company. The distance is both a blessing and hurdle the two must face before embarking on any sort of life together.
Just as things seem to be coming together and the family's plans are to be realized an enemy from the past resurfaces. Allison must face the demon her mother has thrust upon her, and the Seattle Benedicts find the skeletons in their closet have not gone to rest.
Hall of Secrets transitions readers from the conflict between Margot and Preston to the struggles of a modern woman in 1920s Seattle. Margot's privileged background gives her advantages over the women she treats, but their challenges drive her to make their lives better with access to healthcare and education. The story looks into women's rights and family planning as they become hot button issues in America, younger readers may misunderstand some nuances of the challenges Margot and the women of her acquaintance face.
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