The Secret Keeper-Review by Pat

With a smaller group than normal, five of us were at the meeting to discuss “The Secret Keeper”, by Kate Morton.  The ratings ranged from 3.5 to 4.0 with an average of 3.70.  Despite the higher ratings, part of the group mentioned they would not read the other books the author has written.  Some of us found the writing style to be a little drawn out and too descriptive in areas while others liked the more intricate detailed information. 

The book’s main characters are Vivien, Dolly and Jimmy (of course, Jimmy is the love interest between the two women).  The book starts with Laurel at the family’s England farm for her mother’s 90^th birthday.  Laurel searches into her mother’s past for answers to a murder she witnessed by her mother back in 1961, over 50 years ago.  The story goes between the pre WWII blitz in England to the 1960’s to 2011 and we liked the writing style moving between the past and the present.  Laurel’s two sisters in the story added no value to the story line but everyone enjoyed the relationship that Laurel and Gerald shared.  Our group appreciated the book’s multiple sub-plots, twists and turns that were presented along with the big surprise ending.  None of us guessed the ending where Vivien switched her identity for Dolly’s when Dolly died.   

During our discussion, many of us had different interpretations and inferences drawn about events that occurred in the book (i.e. the arrival of Henry at the end of the book and if he knew that it was Vivien he was going to see or Dolly).  Readers often assumed something about a character only to find out later that the character is not as they appeared.  “The Secret Keeper” offers tragedy, deception, jealousy and romance blended with a mystery plot throughout the book. Some in our group didn’t feel like the book was realistic while others thought the events could occur as written.  

About the Author:  Born 1976 – 39 years old.  We all thought Kate Morton would be from England but she was from Berri, South Australia, however, she had spent some time in London in the summers.  She holds a B.A. in English literature, a Master’s degree in Victorian literature from the University of Queensland and is currently working on a PhD program researching contemporary novels that incorporate aspects of gothic and mystery fiction.  Kate Morton is married to Davin, a jazz musician/composer and they have two sons.