The Secret Keeper is a really well-written and cleverly structured mystery that spans a couple of generations in Great Britain. Great characters and a hard to predict ending make it a top notch read!
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First, a quick summary of The Secret Keeper:
As 92-year-old Dorothy lays dying in a hospital, her daughter, Laurel, recalls a shocking incident she witnessed as a teenager. There are some unanswered questions about that incident, and the mystery is further compounded by things Dorothy says as medication and sickness cause her to confuse the past with the present.
Laurel’s quest to uncover the truth is also a journey back to WWII London and a time in her mother’s life when she was young and reckless. Laurel uncovers the truth mostly from journals and letters that had been preserved. But the reader of The Secret Keeper gets much more detail than this as the author switches her narration back and forth between 1941 and 2011.
Ms. Morton really makes London during the blitz come alive. She also has a real talent for developing very complex characters, especially young people who are grappling with defining who they want to be as adults. And she skillfully unfolded a very well thought out mystery.
The Secret Keeper is a very satisfying read and there will definitely be more Kate Morton in my future!
If you read The Secret Keeper, please share your thoughts in the comments section.
Update: I did, in fact, read another Kate Morton novel. Check out my review of The Forgotten Garden.
Book Thoughts from Bed 
Thank you for this and for the Liane Moriarty title–both are going on my library list today! I just finished an oldie but a goodie that I found on my bookshelf and wanted to recommend: “Smoke” by Donald Westlake. Crime novels are not my typical choice, this one is such a fun read that I was laughing out loud and mentally casting the movie version. The author’s voice reminds me of Elmore Leonard; he’s an excellent writer with a gift for comic dialogue and characters that you root for even when they are on the wrong side of the law (and the crimes are not violent or disturbing). I hope you check it out and enjoy it as much as I did.
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Hope you enjoy both books. “Smoke” sounds right up my alley and I’ve added it to my library wish list. Thanks for the recommendation!
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I’m going to add Smoke, or at least some other Donald Westlake books, to my reading list, too. I can’t seem to find Smoke as an audio book which greatly decreases the chance I’ll be able to make my way through it before the year 2045.
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I’m reading this book now and LOVE it! I appreciate the spoiler alert very much. I’m also going to be checking out her other books. She’s a great writer.
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I Loved this book !!! After I finished all I could think of was….Well played Kate Morton, well played !!! Great review!!!
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Thanks! Definitely well played!
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The only way I can fit reading into my life is via audiobook — read + weed the garden, read + drive kids places, read + make dinner, read + go for a long walk — you get the idea. I did enjoy the book, but it seemed to be taking forever to get through it. As I rounded the corner to the home stretch, I found myself slightly distracted by the thought that the last few book recommendations from Michelle have been 5,000 pagers that I literally yelled “Get out!” out loud while making dinner when the big plot twist unveiled itself. I was soooooo not expecting that!
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Hi Michelle! What are the next few books on your list so I can see if I can find them?
George
P.S. Congrats on high school freshmen! Wow, huh? Tyler is already a senior this year at ND and Olivia is a high school senior. Molly and I wonât know what to do when she graduatesâ¦. â¹
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Well, that would imply that there’s some kind of method to my madness. I will probably read The Secret Wife by Gill Paul. Beyond that, I have no idea. I’ll “announce” October’s book club book next week, so it would be great if you and Molly would read that with me.
Going to be an empty nester soon, huh? I’ll bet you fill your time with lots of fun trips.
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Please tell me that October’s book is NOT “Remembrance of Things Past” and that it will clock in under 5,000 pages. 😉
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I’m leaning towards “War and Peace” just for you (jk).
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Scratch that. Started The Secret Wife and didn’t like it so I’m not going to finish it. Back to the drawing board.
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You’ve sold me….again! I need to read more smart fiction, and I like how you write about and describe the plot and characters. (Didn’t read the spoilers–thanks for the alert!) Thanks for always writing thoughtful recommendations—and for being candid, like with The Secret Wife!
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SPOILER ALERT: Thanks for recommending this. I did not see that ending coming, but it made me feel so much better about Dorothy’s action with Henry. If I’m remembering correctly, he found her because of the picture of her winning produce/pie/something like that in the local paper . . . . Looking forward to the October read! (I graduated from ND in ’86 — Go Irish!)
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Ah, yes. I forgot that picture in the paper. Thanks for commenting. The Irish looked good on Saturday!
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Finally finished it! And for anyone struggling to get there, it picks up during the last 100 pages! I had considered the ending too, but couldn’t quite fit the pieces together. Loved how everything pulled together. Beautiful story. What’s next?!!!
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Glad you liked it! Ready Player One is next.
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I had never read anything by this author before and really enjoyed it. It was a satisfying mystery plus I am always intrigued by how events in the past influence the future especially in ways we may not fully understand. Always interesting to consider how keeping secrets impacts the lives of people. Thanks for recommending this book!
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I really enjoyed this book on a number of levels: the historical setting, the fully developed characters, the mystery and good writing Like Shutterbug Sage, I also do a lot of books on audiobook. The reader sometimes adds to my enjoyment and this was one such book. I did anticipate the ending, but not all of the twists that got us there. Spoiler** The only reason I anticipated the ending was that the young Dorothy was not a very likeable young woman and the older Dorothy was quite admirable, in most respects. ** The author did a good job of hiding the twist and I found it believable. I think the disapproving mom-in-law and her meddling into Dorothy’s background also had something to do with Henry and Jimmy being able to find her. (I read this a while ago, so not real clear on that.) Thanks again Michelle, for your review.
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Thanks for commenting, Deb. Good point – the mother-in-law’s meddling may have given her away.
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