I wholeheartedly and
without reservation recommend Kate Morton’s The
Secret Keeper as the best book of 2012 (so far).
Not many people I know are familiar with the Australian’s work, and I
wouldn’t have been either if I had not gone looking for similar books to Diane
Setterfeld’s The Thirteenth Tale. The
Distant Hours, The Forgotten Garden, and The House at Riverton all received a well-deserved 5 from me for
their unbelievable depth and layering.
Even though The Secret Keeper
is not Morton’s usual “Gothic English mystery” genre, it’s still historical
fiction and absolutely jam packed with breathtaking suspense.
Weaving effortlessly and
seamlessly between present day and World War II England, The Secret Keeper is the story of secrets, betrayals, and utter
heartbreak. It begins in the early 1960s
with teenage Laurel lazing the day away in a treehouse. While the rest of her family is a little ways
away having a birthday party, Laurel sees Dorothy, her mother, who is carrying
Laurel’s baby brother, stab and kill a strange man. Due to Laurel's lies, the matter is swept under the rug with no repercussions for Dorothy. Fast forward to present day, Laurel and her
siblings are called back to their hometown to be at their dying mother's bedside. However, Laurel desperately wants to
solve the mystery of the man's murder before Dorothy passes away.
The Secret Keeper, as are all of Morton’s books, is one giant puzzle. Morton plays tricks on the brain, and if you
don’t pay attention to each and every detail, she will get you! There were so many little nuances and
questions throughout this novel that I kept thinking to myself there was no way
Morton would answer them all. But she
never, ever leaves a stone unturned. By
the time you finish, you are left with a story that completely makes sense and
has you asking yourself why you didn’t see it coming all along.
MY RATING - 5
