Kate Morton

Withdrawing from a family party to the solitude of her tree house, 16-year-old Laurel Nicolson witnesses a shocking murder that throughout a subsequent half century shapes her beliefs, her acting career and the lives of three strangers from vastly different cultures. By the best-selling author of The Distant Hours. Reprint. 200,000 first printing.

A Novel

The Secret Keeper

The secret keeper

Melissa Palmer

Book #30 Read in 2013
The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton

This was a book that the last 70 pages saved for me. I could not figure out if I liked it or not. But, I could not put it down as a "did not finish" book. I am glad that I stayed with it; the last part of it made it all worthwhile.

During World War I, Dolly and Jimmy are a couple. Dolly wants to be friend with Vivien, a rich woman who lives across the street from where Dolly works as a companion to an elderly wealthy woman. When Dolly feels rejected by Vivien, she plots revenge and enlists Jimmy's help with her plan. This plan has consequences that Dolly could never have imagined. They culminate when Dolly stabs a man in her driveway, witnessed by two of her young children. Years later, when Dolly is near death, those two children begin to investigate their mother's past, looking for the answer as to why their mother would have done such a thing. The answers are complicated and unexpected.

This book alternates between present day and World War I time. This was jolting to me at times because I was getting into one of the storylines and wanted to stay in that time period, but was forced into another time period. The mystery was filled with twists and turns. Some I figured out, some I never saw coming. This book, at close to 500 pages, bogged down a bit in the middle, but overall was a good read.

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When Laurel was a teenager, she witnessed a violent crime involving her mother. She tried to forget it but fifty years later, as her mother nears death, she realizes that she has to know the truth.

This is a dual timeline historical fiction, full of gothic elements and family secrets. It’s Kate Morton at her best.

Cheri McElroy

When Laurel was a teenager, she witnessed a violent crime involving her mother. She tried to forget it but fifty years later, as her mother nears death, she realizes that she has to know the truth.

This is a dual timeline historical fiction, full of gothic elements and family secrets. It’s Kate Morton at her best.

Herinneringen van een 66-jarige Engelse actrice aan haar jeugd en aan de dodelijke steekpartij gepleegd door haar moeder, waarvan ze op 16-jarige leeftijd getuige was.

edith w.

I got on much better with the start of this book than I did the end. I lost interest in Laurel's narrative pretty quickly (it was important, perhaps, but given more time than it needed) so I skipped through it for much of the second half. I don't think I missed much in terms of the story or, indeed, the texture. Dolly and Vivien were the obvious interest throughout though as I went on, I felt that I was persevering even with them in the same way as one often does with a whodunit - one wants to know the outcome but would prefer a shorter way of reaching it. I'll try another by this author because I think she's a good writer even if her characters are not so engaging and some of her story-telling rather long-winded (at times).

Fran Lewis

I loved her books, they have such turns and twists

erica

I loved it. I takes you in another beautiful world, you're confused and amazed while reading. Well written. Perfect characters, I love Vivien, seriosuly and her love for Jimmy is so true. I kept saying "Oh my God, what's happening now?"

Natalia Hernandez

I liked this book, don't get me wrong. it's a fun, interesting read. I really liked the protagonist, Laurel, and her quest to find out more about her mother's history during the War. What I absolutely disliked was her mother. Dorothy is so annoying, I really hated her and considered stop reading because she was making me physically ill. But I kept reading and I loved the twist and the end. It made complete sense and I was surprised I didn't get it before it was revealed.

Sandra Gomes

Para quem já leu outros livros da mesma autora, este sabe a "mais do mesmo". A mesma estrutura narrativa, histórias do passado e do presente que se interligam, um mistério do passado que vai sendo desenrolado ao longo do livro.

A verdade, porém, é que a autora domina este tipo de narrativa na perfeição, o que poderia ser uma tremenda confusão em mãos menos hábeis, aqui flui naturalmente e a história é lida e compreendida sem dificuldades.

As personagens são credíveis (pessoas boas às vezes fazem coisas más e vice-versa) e a história é envolvente.

Bec Taylor

Would've given it 5 stars except I felt the middle was a little slow. WONDERFUL ending, exceptionally well drawn characters, adored the mix of time and place settings.

Kate Morton's heart-breaking novel, The Secret Keeper, is a spellbinding story of mysteries and secrets, murder and enduring love, moving between the 1930s, the 1960s and the present.1961: On a sweltering summer's day, while her family picnics by the stream on their Suffolk farm, sixteen-year-old Laurel hides out in her childhood tree house dreaming of a boy called Billy, a move to London, and the bright future she can't wait to seize. But before the idyllic afternoon is over, Laurel will have witnessed a shocking crime that changes everything.2011: Now a much-loved actress, Laurel finds herself overwhelmed by shades of the past. Haunted by memories, and the mystery of what she saw that day, she returns to her family home and begins to piece together a secret history. A tale of three strangers from vastly different worlds - Dorothy, Vivien and Jimmy - who are brought together by chance in wartime London and whose lives become fiercely and fatefully entwined.

Nona G

Well written, surprising with every page. When I thought I'd figured everything out, something else came to tell me I'd been wrong. One of the best mystery novels I've read in a very long time.

Courtney Patterson

I had a hard time getting into this book at first. I found it hard to follow whose point or view it was with going back and forth in the chapters themselves and every chapter being past or present in the storyline. once you got used to that and the story got going I became quite interested to see how it all ended and was quite surprised at how everything tied up in the end

Roisin Giles

I loved this book! At the age of 16, Laurel witnessed her mother murder a man in their garden. It was investigated by the police and deemed self-defence and the Nicholson family kept it a secret from the four younger siblings and everyone else. Fifty years later, Laurel still often thinks back to this event and wonders about how the situation came about and who her mother was before she became Laurel’s mother, Dorothy. The book is told from the perspective of Laurel with many flashback chapters told from Dorothy and her friend, Vivien’s, perspectives and how their lives and choices were intertwined.

Vida Koster

I am not quite sure what to say. It's a good book, as always well written. However I will give it 4 starts because it's a bit slow building, and I guessed the end about half way through. I am not saying that to sound smart, it's just that the plot was a bit obvious, the plot twists not as surprising as in Morton's other books. Still a great beach read though.

The Secret Keeper A Novel

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