The Secret Keeper

4.5 rolled on up!

Kate Morton writes historical fiction unlike any other author I've read. I have a real appreciation for how she weaves the mysteries of the past and present, and unravels them in sync with each other. Quick becoming one of my favorite authors.

I listened to this on audio and it was long. In fact I almost stopped listening to it around the 13 hour mark but wanted to understand what happened to all the characters. With 5 hours left to go the story really picked up and I loved every minute of it. The end is what pushed my rating from 3 to 4 stars.

So... I finished this book... And oh my god. I can't even describe how much I loved it. It was the perfect book for me. I cried, I laughed, I smiled... I cried again. This book destroyed me, officially.

Amazing book. For a book so heavy on character, it's astonishing how many major plot twists there are. What a complex, beautiful, intelligent, piece of art.

I have been a big Kate Morton fan since reading The Forgotten Garden and despite a dip in form in The Distant Hours she is definitely back to her best with The Secret Keeper.

From the first chapter it starts with a bang when Laurel Nicolson witnesses her mother Dorothy violently stab a man who comes to their quiet countryside home one summers afternoon. For years she has lived with what she saw without understanding why her mother would do such a thing but as she prepares for her mother's 90th birthday many years later she begins to be drawn into the mystery even further.

Jumping between present day and London in the second world war we see the story through the eyes of Laurel, her mother Dorothy during the war and find out about the mysterious relationship between Dorothy and her friend Vivien. Twisting and turning from the start the writing is wonderful. The story is gripping and beautifully evocative of war time London. Just when you think you've got the ending all figured out it twists and turns again.

A brilliant book, I was reading it whilst on holiday in busy Blackpool and found that I couldn't wait to keep going back to reading it, snatching moments in the car or a quick 5 minutes here and there to keep reading so gripping was the story. Very much recommended.