The Secret Keeper (Kate Morton)

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

The House at Riverton (Kate Morton)

It is quite rare for me to review two books in a row by the same author. I am not one to read a book, and then run out to buy the next one if I like the style. I really don't know why it took me so long to discover Kate Morton (The House at Riverton was her debut, published in 2006), but I am so glad I did.

Narrated by Grace Bradley, a housemaid at Riverton House beginning when she was just a girl, The House at Riverton spans decades. Grace desperately wants her grandson (who has disappeared) to see her before she dies, so she makes him a set audiotapes about her past. She went to work at Riverton when she was fourteen and became entrenched in the goings-on of the House. From the servants to the family to outsiders (or so they seem), every character is important. Grace becomes deeply involved in the lives of the Riverton children, especially the sisters Hannah and Emmeline. However, World War I service meant sacrificing your own life for those you served. Will Grace ever get a life of her own? What really happened in that house? Will Grace die before seeing her beloved grandson? What really happened at the lake, where we learn early on that a character took his own life?

Morton loves her early twentieth century Gothic English estates, as do I. What is most fascinating about her novels is that we find out many plot points early on; however, we don't know how it gets to that point (or if the early plot point is even true), until we get there. Settle in for a deeply layered read that will keep you glued to every page.

MY RATING - 5