Gusworld: Share A Secret Reviewed

Share A Secret Reviewed looks at the weekly Share A Secret column in Australia's biggest-selling magazine, Woman's Day. We at Gusworld love it, and we hope you will too. We don't give away the plot (that would be unfair and a possible breach of copyright); we just tell you what the headline is and describe the stunning artwork that goes with it.

Woman's Day dated October 14th, 1996

MY BROTHER-IN-LAW FATHERED MY BABY

Circumstance tore the young lovers apart, and she married his brother. Then came a family reunion, and they met again . . .

There's been a subtle change in the way the intros are being written for Share A Secret. Where once the sub-editors of Woman's Day never dared go over a single sentence, that rule appears to have been dropped in the past couple of weeks. Last week's story was introduced with no less than three sentences, and this week's has two. Since Gusworld began tracking the column in May, only one column (that for June 13) has dared make such a transgression. We await next week's issue with interest.

As if to compensate for this sudden shift, this week's story is the virtual Share A Secret prototype. The storyline might be broadly summed up as "I shagged another family member and got pregnant". Since May, a variant on this story has appeared in 5 out of the 24 featured Share A Secret columns, making it the predominant theme for 1996. But we're not complaining, we love a scandal.

We're also pleased to report that traditional pictorial values have been restored in this week's touching shot of two models on the verge of snogging each other. She is wearing a tasteless dress featuring butterflies with red tonings; he is wearing a red check flannelette shirt. The old order changeth, but some things stay the same.

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