The Art of Keeping Secrets

(There is a moderate spoiler after the 3rd paragraph. Not enough to hide the whole review, but enough, that if you are serious about reading the book, you might not want to know ahead of time, though I will try and be vague as possible.)

I feel really bad that I just don't like this author's premises that much, but obviously it doesn't keep me from trying again when a book of hers comes my way. She loves the low country. I love the low country. We have that meeting ground. But honestly, I think we sometimes inhabit two different worlds.

I understand all the angst and drama that surfaced for Belle who lost her beloved husband in a small plane crash two years before this story starts. What I can't understand is the immediate conclusion that show more this man who shared her heart and life was unfaithful since, when the plane was found, there was also found the body of a woman passenger. I could construct a number of other reasons that would have been plausible. My sympathy while reading the novel was for Knox, and for him to be vindicated. But Knox was dead, and I had to deal with his wife and two kids, and Sophie, the daughter of the dead woman in the plane.

I must say that I think PCH's writing is getting stronger, better defined and more evocative. I'm just not so crazy about some of the characters/stories she creates. I also don't think the occasional secret regarding the past is necessarily a bad thing. It's not everyone's style, but for some people, it's probably better not to let the nightmares out of the closet, or the stuff out of the box. Not all boxes are like Pandora's, with hope at the bottom.

spoiler alert: Do not read beyond this if you don't want a moderate spoiler.

Stop! Spoiler ahead!

I really disliked the treatment of Hurricane Hugo in Sophie's telling of her mom's tale. I lived through that storm, and remember the gratitude that a storm that big was not the killer it could have been here in Charleston. To throw away a life, even fictitiously as an escape from an abusive marriage really irked me. show less

I was totally caught up in reading this book and wondering just where it was going to wind up---it really does sort of keep you going right to the end as to what can possibly be "the secret." I particularly appreciated the author's comments at the end of the book. Her explanations for why and how some things happened in the book were interesting and helpful in understanding what she was trying to accomplish with the characters.

This was an easy, feel good read…just what the doctor ordered!

We are taught “secrets don’t make friends”. But secrets are there for a purpose; to save, to hide, to break, to wait, to love, to lie, to hurt…. It all depends on the circumstances.

And this is a beautiful story about trust.

An indulgence to my infatuation with stories about widows. Breezy read with mildly suspenseful plot...widow discovers things about her dead spouse that cause her to question their entire relationship (naughty corpse!); everything is tidily put in place by the end. No surprises. A shallow diversion.

The author tried to hard to have you believe that Annabell's pilot husband Knox was having an affair with the woman found with him in the plane crash, only to have a twist as to the identity of the woman in the end.

"Patti Callahan Henry is the master of storytelling - renowned for her beautifully written stories, she goes back to the Lowcounty of SC where a tragedy unites two woman and forces them to face the dark secrets of their past - things are not always as they seem. Great book - you will want to read all her works - as they never disappoint! "

One of my soothing reads between my murder mysteries and dystopian reads! Love the low country books!