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Sat 03 Mar 2007The unveiling of VeronicaFiction:The Secret of My Face is all about secrets, their revealing and unveiling, in a well-wrought narrative set in 1930s Ireland. The debut novel of actress Karen Ardiff, it tells the poignant story of Veronica Broderick, whose face has been marked since birth by a cleft lip and palate. The novel focuses on events surrounding a planned reconstructive surgery operation on the young girl.The story opens in a small rural townland, Shannack, located near Dublin, where Veronica has lived for the 14 years of her life, keeping home for her brother and father as her mother is dead. Veronica's first complete sighting of her own face occurs in the opening pages, as she prepares herself for the visit of Dr John Geraghty, sent from Dublin to examine her by a wealthy aunt and uncle. With her father vigorously opposed to any form of reconstructive surgery, Veronica rebels and flees to Dublin, where she moves into her relatives' home and preparations for her operation begin.