From the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of The Distant Hours, The Forgotten Garden, and The House at Riverton, a spellbinding new novel filled with mystery, thievery, murder, and enduring love.
During a summer party at the family farm in the English countryside, sixteen-year-old Laurel Nicolson has escaped to her childhood tree house and is happily dreaming of the future. … tree house and is happily dreaming of the future. She spies a stranger coming up the long road to the farm and watches as her mother speaks to him. Before the afternoon is over, Laurel will witness a shocking crime. A crime that challenges everything she knows about her family and especially her mother, Dorothy—her vivacious, loving, nearly perfect mother.
Now, fifty years later, Laurel is a successful and well-regarded actress living in London. The family is gathering at Greenacres farm for Dorothy’s ninetieth birthday. Realizing that this may be her last chance, Laurel searches for answers to the questions that still haunt her from that long-ago day, answers that can only be found in Dorothy’s past.
Dorothy’s story takes the reader from pre–WWII England through the blitz, to the ’60s and beyond. It is the secret history of three strangers from vastly different worlds—Dorothy, Vivien, and Jimmy—who meet by chance in wartime London and whose lives are forever entwined. The Secret Keeper explores longings and dreams and the unexpected consequences they sometimes bring. It is an unforgettable story of lovers and friends, deception and passion that is told—in Morton’s signature style—against a backdrop of events that changed the world.
more
Really good read! Love all her books. They keep you turning the pages with interesting characters and stories. I usually am surprised at ending!
Love Kate Morton’s books. She keeps you on the edge of your seat with wonderful characters who do unpredictable things.
Fabulous. Read it twice and presented it to my book club.
This was the first book I read by this author and it is excellent. The twist at the end was unexpected!
Different take on WW2. Wonderful characters and plot.
This author never loses the attention of her readers. A reader may expect a complete different result. Surprise! Completely different from any idea of the reader.
This is the story of Laurel. When Laurel was 16 years old, she witnessed a crime in her driveway. That crime, which Laurel helps cover up, changes the course of their family. Now, 50 years later, as her mother lays dying, Laurel wants to get to the bottom of what happened that day in her driveway. And why. She starts to hunt for answers …
Ever since I read my first book by Kate Morton, I’ve been keen to read all her others. This month I went with The Secret Keeper since I tend to love books where there’s a secret buried somewhere that must come out despite every intent to bury it years ago. I was thrilled with the novel and can’t wait to take on the next one.
The book takes place over a period of ~60 years focusing for the most part on Dorothy (Dolly) and daughter Laurel. We see snapshots of their lives while Laurel tries to unravel the mystery of a childhood incident where she’s certain she saw her mother stab a stranger. We see the perspective of a few other characters who interacted with Dolly when she was younger, as well as Laurel’s three sisters and one brother. It all comes together in a surprising conclusion where readers are forced to decide how we feel about an event that can be seen from many different angles.
Morton is the best at weaving together a story full of so many different side stories, you can never tell which will be the significant one to change the entire ending or plot arc to capture your shock. As this one moved along, I enjoyed the lyrical prose, tense dialog, well-drawn characters, and thrilling descriptions. About 75% through, when I thought I’d figured most of it out, I was feeling a bit disappointed. It was good, but that shock factor didn’t emerge as powerfully as I’d hoped. A few chapters later, in the most unusual place, I thought I saw an error. I re-read the passage twice, then realized — Oh, here’s that crazy twist! And what a fantastic one it was. 🙂
At that point, my opinion on the book shot up from a 4 to a 4.5. I would love to give it 5 stars, and it’s close, but there were a few moments of repetition and slowness that held me back. By no means did it make me want to put it down and wait days before reading again. It just didn’t force me to stay up super late… but that’s okay, sleep is needed, too. Overall, the story is very enthralling on many levels. You’ve got a backdrop of war, then modern social media times. You’ve got a mother who might or might not be lying or be a killer. As you read the historical portions, you can’t decide which of two girls is the one to believe. It keeps you going to the point you almost think they’re both lying, but which is the most pertinent among all the confusion?
Above all the plot and story, the settings are among the most gorgeous and captivating as any I’ve ever read before. Morton can describe the simplest things in the most complex terms, but it still makes me yearn for more. I never think “ugh, she’s completely overdone it,” but there are times when I would be okay with a few less words if it’s not ultimately important to the detail of the story. It’s a fine line, and in 98% of the cases, she’s spot on.
If you’ve never read her work, this is a good one, but I’d start with The Forgotten Garden then come to this one. I’ve two more left to read of hers, then I’ll probably have to wait a year for the next to be published. Oh well… sometimes patience is a good thing.
I loved this book from start to finish. It was a page turner with an unpredictable twist.
Great story. Wonderful characters. This book will stay with you for a long time. The story leaps between three time periods with beautiful descriptions of characters and places. Never confusing, the narrative simply draws you in to a great conclusion.
This is one of my very favorite authors…..I absolutely read everything she writes. Beautiful, lyrical, magical. Her characters are wonderful and her stories stay with me. If you want to be transported to another time and place read it!
One of my favorite books
Have read all of Kate Morton’s novels and loved them all!
Love Kate Morton books!
Loved it!!
I have read many of Kate Morton’s books and love them all!
Edition
This is an amazing book!. The choices we make may someday come back and haunt us! I loved it! I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a bit of historical fiction, a bit of romace, a bit of suspense and a love story to last forever! I could read this book over and over. Loved it SO much!
Edit
Delete
Comment Permalink
Posting publicly as: Linda Mae Hewitt
Insert product link
What’s this?
Talk about why you like this review, or ask a question.
Talk about why you like this review, or ask a question.
Guidelines
Post a comment
Product Details
The Secret Keeper: A Novel