The Secret Keeper: A Novel (edition 2012)

I grabbed this WW2 influenced contemporary story from the library's express 1 wk shelf, so felt the pressure to complete on time for returning by due date!

Definitely a lengthy and multi faceted story of interconnected characters, their individual stories and relationships unfolding from a variety of viewpoints with surprising end twists that left me satisfied for the reading investment required for the 484 pages.. ( )

Overall, a disappointment because predictable. When you're reading a family history novel in which people with heretofore lethal absence of curiosity suddenly tumble onto long-forgotten journals and letters, all written carefully both to reveal and conceal with an unnatural style in which no one ever actually wrote, you want not to be able to call the revelations, let alone to the page.

Then again, I do sympathize with Morton. Here she goes writing my favorite type of book -- England, countryside, farmhouse, big family, letters, secrets, journals, gardens -- and here I go saying this is my favorite type of book except I've read it too many times before.

All books are one book. This and The Map of Time both have -- spoiler space --





























... ineptly murdered people who are beaten and thrown into the Thames and then not dead. I'm not even counting Our Mutual Friend.

This book was a great satisfying read from start to finish. I was hooked from the first few pages and stayed hooked until the end. This is the second book of Kate Morton's I've read and I love the way she writes; I love the images she paints with her prose.

A couple of reviews here have mentioned the readers figured out the mystery before the end and that's too bad for them. I didn't, I let the story unfold without trying to guess at the solution, and it was well worth it. I was more than pleased with the way the strands of the story all wove together at the end and will definitely look at other books by this author. ( )

The Secret Keeper was kindly provided to me by Netgalley for Simon & Schuster/Atria Books.
Expected publication: October 9th 2012 by Atria

'It was the liquid silver flash Laurel would always remember. The way sunlight caught the metal blade, and the moment was briefly beautiful.'

In 1959, when Laurel was sixteen years old she watched as a stranger walked up her driveway, said hello to her mother, before her mother stabbed him to death. But the man wasn’t a stranger at all because before he died she heard him speak:
”Hello, Dorothy,” the man said. “It’s been a long time.”

When the police interviewed her mother, Laurel admits to seeing everything. Her mother didn’t do anything wrong, that the stranger had attacked her and she had no choice but to do what she had done. Nothing more was ever said about the man’s death and Laurel never asked but she the memories of that day never left her.

Fifty years later, Laurel’s mother has been hospitalized so she returns to her childhood home to be with her. Returning only revives the memories but this time she’s determined to finally find the answers to the mystery that has plagued her for almost her entire life.

The story flashes back and forth between 1940 and present day. As Laurel begins uncovering answers to her mother’s past, the truth begins to unfold. There is so much that can be said but shouldn't for fear of ruining the story. Definitely one that truly needs to be experienced to be fully appreciated. Suffice it to say, it was an incredible mystery with intriguing and amazingly well-developed characters; a definite treat.

The immensity of the revelation at the end truly took my breath away. That moment when all is revealed and all the unanswered questions are finally given resolution and you finally see it all in its finality? Oh, the feelings! This book made me feel so much and it was intense, amazing, bittersweet and so poignant. Reading something with such intricate detailing, intersecting storylines that blended beautifully, and an ending I never could have possibly imagined… this was a real gem. I won’t be forgetting this story for a long time to come. ( )

I listened to this book. It was a wonderful story !! ( )