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The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets

Eva Rice

3.95 · Rating details · 7,109 ratings · 919 reviews

Set in 1950s London The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets centers around Penelope the wide- eyed daughter of a legendary beauty Talitha who lost her husband to the war. Penelope with her mother and brother struggles to maintain their vast and crumbling ancestral home while postwar London spins toward the next decade's cultural revolution. Penelope wants nothing more than to fall ...more

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Paperback, 352 pages

Published April 1st 2007 by Plume Books (first published October 24th 2005)

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Jun 10, 2011 Mariel rated it liked it

Recommends it for: Rory and the Storms

Recommended to Mariel by: Mariel and Hurricanes

This is another vaguely rip-offish version of I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. Confession? I'm not original about selecting books to read. I was looking at different book sites on the web and putting in favorite books to see what came up when I came across The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets. I'd read all of the books that were like all of my other favorites, except for Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle (I'm still planning on reading the others, as well. Bring on the Elvis impersonators!). I ne ...more

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Mar 25, 2018 Nat K rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018-books, friends-and-family, quirky, womens-fiction, favourites, love-romance, whimsy

”We were young and the world revolved around this.”

Delicious. Utterly delectable and delightful. I adore this book 💕

What a beautiful story. From the opening page where Penelope and Charlotte meet while waiting for a bus, I fell in love, and read blissfully on.

This is a gentle romp about manners, falling in and out of love, and growing up. Set in 1950s England, where the war is slowly being forgotten and rationing has come to end. Sunnier times are on the horizon. People can start to buy what the ...more

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Sep 20, 2010 Bethany rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: absolute-favourites, comfort-reads

Before I read this book, I had a feeling that I was going to like it a lot. Whether it was the vintage dresses displayed on the cover or the numerous comparisons to "I Capture the Castle", I am not sure. But needless to say, I was not disappointed.

This book is neither suspenseful nor innovative but I couldn't put it down until I had finished it.
I love the characters Eva Rice has created. They are undeniably quirky, but not so much as to make them unbelievable.
And I was enchanted with the desc ...more

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Jul 01, 2008 Lara rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: anyone.

Shelves: favorites

I think this book is going to find a spot on my list of favorite books of all time. I loved the characters, I loved the story, I loved everything about it. It reminded me a little of Pride & Prejudice, just set in a different era and with a different plot.

This snippet of conversation between two of the main characters pretty much sums up my love of this book:

Charlotte: "[My mother] hates having me at home - plowing through the books in her library and kicking my heels up at night. She thinks I' ...more

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Jun 07, 2018 Lady Clementina ffinch-ffarowmore rated it it was amazing

Shelves: humour, food, british, illustrations, lovely-illustrations, romance, eva-rice, music, 1950s

The first of my ‘theme’ reads this month. This is a story of England in the mid-1950s, when rationing was coming to an end, Jazz ruled large, Elvis was first appearing on the scene (though not yet in England), but the shadows of war still loomed large. Our ‘heroine’, eighteen-year-old Penelope Wallace, lives in her crumbling old ancestral home, Milton Magna, with her rather young mother, society-beauty, Talitha, and sixteen-year-old brother Inigo, who attends school but whose whole life is music The first of my ‘theme’ reads this month. This is a story of England in the mid-1950s, when rationing was coming to an end, Jazz ruled large, Elvis was first appearing on the scene (though not yet in England), but the shadows of war still loomed large. Our ‘heroine’, eighteen-year-old Penelope Wallace, lives in her crumbling old ancestral home, Milton Magna, with her rather young mother, society-beauty, Talitha, and sixteen-year-old brother Inigo, who attends school but whose whole life is music and his guitar. Penelope attends classes on literature and art history, has a part-time job, and is preparing to spend some time in Italy the next year, and oh yes, she is besotted with singer Johnnie Ray. At home, the family is dealing with money problems, having to maintain Milton Magna (Penelope lost her father in the war, before her and her brother were even old enough to really understand it), each in their own way (her mother by wanting Penelope to marry money, and her brother wanting to make it big in the music world, much to her mother’s horror since that would inevitably involve him going away to America). Penelope and her family are pretty eccentric themselves but her somewhat uneventful life changes when one day at the bus stop she meets Charlotte, and through her, Charlotte’s aunt Clare, who’s in the midst of writing her memoirs (and happens to know Penelope’s parents though Penelope doesn’t immediately know how) and cousin Harry, a budding magician, determined to win back his ‘love’ Marina Hamilton….

This was my first Eva Rice book and I simply loved it (well, technically it was my second but the first was Who’s Who by Enid Blyton, so it doesn’t count as a novel). Reviewers have compared this one with Nancy Mitford and with I Capture the Castle and they’re right—the book definitely, especially at the beginning, has a very Mitford feel about it and also feels a lot like I Capture the Castle (the eccentric family, crumbling old house), but that said, it’s also its own story. I really enjoyed the story and all the characters, and especially the craziness and humour. Each character is very individual, well drawn out, eccentric, and interesting—none of your ‘ordinary’ people here, and there isn’t one (except, may be Marina), that one doesn’t ‘like’ or one wouldn’t mind knowing. I thought Rice captures the 1950’s world and indeed, the atmosphere (the ‘feel’ of it) really well—the world of music particularly, which makes perfect sense given her background. The tone remains light-hearted and humorous throughout, but the book also does give one a glimpse of the issues teens of the day then had to face (besides being teens that is)—to come to terms with a life that wasn’t in the midst of war (“I guess the strangest thing about your generation is that you grew up with war as your normality.”) and though the war’s over and there’s a new-found freedom, it’s shadows and impacts still remain with them, and aren’t something that can simply be shaken off. And Rice manages to do this without losing that light-hearted tone. Of course, I loved all the literary allusions and references (from Blyton (she of course, had to be there) to Hardy, and Scott Fitzgerald) as I usually do. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the illustrations—the little illustrations, not of characters but things that appear in the book—a taxi, a teapot and cup, weather vane, and such—there is a human or two but not, as such, specific characters in the book, and these I thought were really cute and great fun as well. This was a perfect beginning for my June theme reads, one I really enjoyed. I definitely want to be reading more of her books!
...more

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Jul 01, 2008 Amanda rated it really liked it

What wonderful read in which nothing quite so amazing occurs until you're absolutely, positively addicted to the world of the novel and just don't know how it happened.

Penelope writes her story of the awkward turning point from girl to woman. The minimal tidbits which revealed her older and wiser voice do not overpower the present tense of main story, but rather added small insights about the future.

As characters moved in and out of her life I would mourn their departure, celebrate returns, an ...more

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Sep 14, 2009 Josie rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: fans of I Capture the Castle/Love in a Cold Climate

Recommended to Josie by: LibraryThing

Shelves: general-fiction, books-i-own

I knew I'd love this book when I opened it up and saw that the author had written (among others) a non-fiction book titled Who's Who in Enid Blyton. Classic.
It's 1954, and six-foot-nothing Penelope Wallace lives with her younger brother Inigo, and her beautiful mother Talitha in their enormous family 'home', Milton Magna. It is falling apart, yet they cannot afford to repair it, and their financial struggles are becoming concerning. (Sound familiar, Dodie Smith fans?) Penelope studies English an ...more

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Jul 12, 2007 Kimberly rated it really liked it

I can't say exactly what it is about this book that is so captivating... but it truly is. It's beautifully written, almost poetic, here is one of my favorite lines during a lull in an intense "duck supper" conversation; "Like the curious pause that takes place before blood seeps out from a cut finger, we all sat quite still...".
Flipping through the pages was more like hearing the narrative of an actress like Emma Thompson with a wonderful British accent rather than reading. After a session, I wa ...more

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Mar 10, 2012 Elizabeth added it · review of another edition

I *loved* this book. The whole reading experience was self-indulgent. God knows why I picked it up - I liked the look of the cover, I think, after reading someone else’s enthusiastic Goodreads review.

It is I Capture the Castle Lite. Or I Capture the Castle set 20 years later on, in a giddy 1954/1955 England gorging itself on butter and sugar and bacon and pop music after 15 years of austerity and rationing. The castle in question is the wonderful, decaying and doomed Great House Milton M
I *loved* this book. The whole reading experience was self-indulgent. God knows why I picked it up - I liked the look of the cover, I think, after reading someone else’s enthusiastic Goodreads review.

It is I Capture the Castle Lite. Or I Capture the Castle set 20 years later on, in a giddy 1954/1955 England gorging itself on butter and sugar and bacon and pop music after 15 years of austerity and rationing. The castle in question is the wonderful, decaying and doomed Great House Milton Magna, plundered for military accommodation during the war and never quite recovered. In this book it’s the teenage narrator’s ancestral home. Actually, it’s safe to say that Magna, as the narrator fondly refers to it, is my favorite character in the book. (‘Nothing, not the dedication of Inigo Jones, nor the years of hard work from those austere, painted faces that lined the walls in the drawing room and the hall, made me anything other than the most important person ever to have lived at Magna, the one who understood and loved the house the most.’ As the precarious heir to a similarly decrepit building I SO UNDERSTAND THIS.) Out of all possible outcomes, my only desire was for some rich American bloke to come along and fall in love with the HOUSE and save its ~~butt~~ Long Gallery.

That didn’t happen, but all the human characters ended up happy, which really is a much better outcome.

Also like I Capture the Castle , it’s a book about writing and learning to write. In fact absolutely nothing happens in this book up until a dramatic event near the end, which ridiculously I didn’t see coming but in retrospect is really the only right and proper thing to have happened. (And I am convinced HARRY DID IT.) Most of the book is parties and train rides and young people getting ridiculously drunk - all disguising some deep and beautiful truths about growing up.

I can’t figure out why this isn’t a YA novel. But it isn’t. It should be; fifty years ago it would have been. But it isn’t.

‘One would never write a single word if one knew the horrors that lay ahead,’ agreed Charlotte.

‘But if you sell copies by the sackload, you may well forget the horrors,’ I agreed quickly.’
...more

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Feb 01, 2009 Carrie rated it liked it

I suggested this as January’s book club book because I was looking for something that was not too taxing, but still respectable, and this turned out to be the perfect choice. It is the story of Penelope Wallace (actually Lady Penelope, though not too much is made of that), an impoverished noblewoman (or rather an impoverished eighteen year old girl), whose family owns a stately home of England, but one that is falling apart since her father died in the war hot on the heals of her grandparents an ...more

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Oct 26, 2010 Beth rated it it was amazing

Shelves: reviewed, favorites

The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets takes place in 1950s England, after the war is finally over and people are learning to live again.

That's what this book is about. This book is color and vitality and giddiness and euphoria. Life is an endless stream of thrilling, heady adjectives, a whirling mass of energy and joy and excitement; every occurrence is larger than life in a way that it would be had it been forbidden or impossible just years back.

For careful Penelope, the protagonist, learning to liv ...more

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Jul 10, 2011 Katie rated it really liked it

Shelves: format-ebook, books-read-in-2016, how-library, books-read-in-2016-new

OH. This really wonderful, but I'm left a little disappointed because the ending just wasn't ENOUGH for me. I needed a little more closure. (view spoiler)

But wonderful atmosphere and wonderful characters. Loved the 50's setting. Just sooooo close to being a perfect book for me, but missed the mark and now I will probably forget it. :( ...more

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Aug 12, 2007 Blair rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: first-novels, historical, 2000s-release, feelgood

Before I say anything else about this book, I'd like to state for the record that I am definitely not a fan of 'chick lit'; anything with a pastel cover promising a stereotypical romantic storyline usually sends me running for the hills. So when a friend recommended this novel to me, I was initially unsure; but the 1950s setting and glowing reviews persuaded me to read on. I'm very glad I did.

The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets is a real treat - the literary equivalent of a huge slice of chocolate c Before I say anything else about this book, I'd like to state for the record that I am definitely not a fan of 'chick lit'; anything with a pastel cover promising a stereotypical romantic storyline usually sends me running for the hills. So when a friend recommended this novel to me, I was initially unsure; but the 1950s setting and glowing reviews persuaded me to read on. I'm very glad I did.

The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets is a real treat - the literary equivalent of a huge slice of chocolate cake. It centres around Penelope, an enchanting but slightly awkward teenage girl growing up in a crumbling country manor in post-war England - and of course, ultimately, it's a love story. But to me, the plot is secondary to the beautiful writing and excellent characterisation. Eva Rice's characters are some of the most perfectly drawn I have ever encountered; even minor players in the story are depicted so exquisitely that they seem to leap off the page. Added to which, the protagonists are so eccentric and interesting that it's impossible not to care about them. The descriptions are equally brilliant - the book really brings the 1950s to life, and the settings (Penelope's grand house, her friend Charlotte's aunt's jumbled flat, decadent parties in London) are, without exception, vividly, entrancingly detailed. The dialogue sparkles with wit, vigour and intelligence; at several points I laughed out loud - and the last few chapters actually made me cry, which I very rarely do over a book.

The only criticism I have to make of this novel, and the reason I've given it four stars rather than five, is that the plot is completely predictable - it's obvious from the start what's going to happen, which makes the conclusion perhaps not as compelling as it might otherwise have been. The quality of the writing gives me the feeling that Rice is an incredibly accomplished author who deserves better than to be ranked amongst 'chick lit' writers. But if the predictability doesn't bother you (and it really shouldn't, because the book is good enough to overcome it), this is an absolutely delicious, highly enjoyable read. ...more

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Oct 17, 2008 Julie Christine rated it really liked it

Shelves: british-isles-theme-setting, historical-fiction

This is a delightful confection of a novel by the daughter of lyricist Tim Rice. It's a coming-of-age story set in 1954-55 Britain- moving back and forth from London to the narrator's crumbling mansion home in the country. To call the novel "chick lit" would be to dismiss the wonderful characterization and detailed portrait of privileged young people in post-war swinging London- where Johnny Ray was king and war was a distant memory...for some...

But A.S. Byatt it isn't! It's a sweet, easy read w ...more

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Jan 17, 2017 Finn rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, books-to-read-in-2016-2017

I really couldn't get on with this at all, to the point where I had to give up! I even tried reading another book and then going back to it, but I just found that I wasn't interested. it started well and got me hooked and then I just found myself drifting off and thinking about other things... I wouldn't even be able to say what it is about!

I have friends who have highly recommended it, so I'd like to try it again, but there are just so many books that I'd like to read!! ...more

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Jul 17, 2011 Hilary rated it it was ok

Shelves: fiction

Fluff, and badly-edited fluff at that, full of anachronistic cultural references. It makes no sense from the word go (a strange young woman asks the protagonist to come to tea with her, to run interference between her and her aunt and cousin in spite of the fact that she apparently interacts with them on a daily basis); even the title, which is also used as the closing line, seems to have little to do with the story, leaving one with the impression that the author thought of the phrase, then tri ...more

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Jan 16, 2016 Oodles rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I picked up this book expecting a bit of fluff...and found myself wonderfully surprised. Not fluff at all but rather a poignant story of 18 year old Penelope of a formerly wealthy but now impoverished family in 1950's England, teetering on the edge of womanhood. The book is replete with marvelous characters, Penelope's beautiful, young widowed mother; her younger musically-inclined brother named after Inigo Jones; her friends, Charlotte and Harry; and Aunt Clare. Full of literary and musical ref ...more

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Sep 16, 2010 Cristina Chaves rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2010, favorites

It made me want to get a vintage Dior dress, put on some red lipstick and enjoy life a bit more. Very endearing <3

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Jun 20, 2015 Trish at Between My Lines rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: reviews-done, historical-fiction

I love books about female friendship and at the very heart of this book is a friendship that is exuberant, fun and full of life. Actually the whole book is full of that too.

First Line of The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice:

“I met Charlotte in London one afternoon while waiting for a bus.”

My Thoughts on The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice:

The setting of this book is fab. It’s set in post war England at a time of huge change. Teenagers are now a thing and they are ready to throw of ...more

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May 12, 2012 Zora rated it did not like it

This opens in a way that brought hope to my chest. An English girl is waiting for a bus, a totally strange girl comes and asks her for tea, there's some sprightly conversation over tea that didn't quite make me smile but hinted I might eventually. Then the girl goes home and the author falls into the conditional and I get a bunch of historical detail that doesn't connect to anything in the first scene. Every once in awhile a sentence appears in real time, like the girl hangs up her coat, but onl ...more

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Aug 02, 2009 Elizabeth K. rated it liked it

Recommended to Elizabeth by: Constance

Shelves: 2009-new-reads

The most important thing I took away from this novel is that author Eva Rice is most likely a kindred spirit who has read all the right kinds of books. It's the story of two teenage girls in 1950s London, and not having enough money to keep the family house going, and being fascinated with American singers, and going to parties with boys. It so puts you in mind of Alconleigh and Hetton Abbey and Scoatney but it's one of those things where it never manages to stop being an homage, there's a self- ...more

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Aug 01, 2009 CLM rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: fans of Atonement, I Capture the Castle

Shelves: 20th-century, fiction, uk, historicalfiction, book-group

Penelope is waiting for a bus in London when swept away by Charlotte, an impetuous young woman wearing homemade clothes, who needs someone to share a taxi. Charlotte brings Penelope home to meet her aunt Clare and cousin Harry, and Penelope is pulled into a more entertaining world than offered by the Wiltshire countryside where she lives with her mother and slightly younger brother. It is the 1950s, and on the one hand Penelope is still affected by the loss of her father in WWII but she and her ...more

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May 24, 2020 Karen Jarvis rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Not my normal type of read and rather predictable, but I quite enjoyed it for something different.

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Nov 29, 2017 Saturday's Child rated it liked it · review of another edition

This reminded me a little bit of I Capture the Castle.

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Apr 18, 2017 Abigail Shepherd rated it it was amazing

I loved this book. It reminded me very much of I Capture The Castle, particularly in the way that the big stately home of Magna takes on its own character throughout the story. However, unlike that story, this one has a satisfying ending!

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Jul 27, 2015 Trish at Between My Lines rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This review was originally posted on [Between My Lines]I love books about female friendship and at the very heart of this book is a friendship that is exuberant, fun and full of life. Actually the whole book is full of that too.

First Line of The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice:

"I met Charlotte in London one afternoon while waiting for a bus."

My Thoughts on The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice:
The setting of this book is fab. It’s set in post war England ...more

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Jun 28, 2015 Cleopatra Pullen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, womans-fiction

Regular readers will know that this is quite unlike the dark books I usually read but I chose this on a whim drawn no doubt by the pretty cover.

The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets is set in the 1950s where eighteen year old Penelope Wallace lives with her beautiful mother Talitha and her younger brother Inigo in the formerly magnificent Milton Magna. One day she has a chance meeting with the lively Charlotte who takes her to tea with her aunt and cousin in Kensington. Meeting Charlotte changes Penel Regular readers will know that this is quite unlike the dark books I usually read but I chose this on a whim drawn no doubt by the pretty cover.

The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets is set in the 1950s where eighteen year old Penelope Wallace lives with her beautiful mother Talitha and her younger brother Inigo in the formerly magnificent Milton Magna. One day she has a chance meeting with the lively Charlotte who takes her to tea with her aunt and cousin in Kensington. Meeting Charlotte changes Penelope’s life, here is a girl nearly as tall as she is, but one with style and a love of life and Aunt Clare is the kind of friend everyone should have while making the transition from girl to woman.

I’m not going to pretend that this is anything but a light read, but set as it is in the period following the war, a war which claimed the life of Penelope’s father and meant that their already perilous financial circumstances became further reduced, the family are on the cusp of a changing world. The book is shot through with pop music and good old Elvis Presley is featured in the form of American records bought over by Talitha’s brother-in-law.

Penelope’s and Charlotte’s friendship is touching, being mutually supportive and fun and I was easily drawn into the world they created where meeting their favourite pop star was worth almost anything. It was Penelope that paid the price for those magical tickets by pretending to be Cousin Harry’s girlfriend, the aim being that he would make his ex-girlfriend so jealous that she would return to him rather than marrying some chinless wonder. There are some wonderful scenes with some over-privileged youngsters being quietly mocked by the girls but nothing so nasty that it stops the feel-good factor that this book positively radiates.

Talitha’s story is the sadder part, she is lost without her beloved husband, still very young and beautiful she is overwhelmed by money worries but not so much so that she doesn’t have her extravagant moments. She clearly loves her children but doesn’t necessarily understand them, particularly Inigo’s desire to play the guitar and listen to records rather than concentrate on his schoolwork. I wasn’t as convinced by Inigo’ s character, he seemed far too mature and worldly wise to be only sixteen but his desire to keep his mother happy was nothing if not commendable.

All in all this is the perfect summer read if like me you want to lose yourself in a story that is charming and entertaining if entirely predictable.

I’d like to thank the publishers Headline for allowing me to read a copy of this book before it’s tenth anniversary publication on 1 July 2015.

...more

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Sep 24, 2010 Sarah rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I loved this, it was original and quirky and funny and delightful. A lot of similarities to I Capture the Castle, but that can only be a good thing. I particularly enjoyed Julian the Loaf (I laughed and laughed over that conversation when Harry was calling someone weird and Penelope was like 'look who's talking, you kept a loaf of bread as a pet' and Harry was like 'leave Julian out of this'.) I loved Harry in general, he was my favourite character, along with Charlotte, who I pictured as lookin ...more

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Jun 27, 2010 Chana rated it really liked it

Shelves: better-romance, british, fiction-family-drama, chick-lit, gothic

Penelope and Inigo Wallace live with their young, beautiful and widowed mother in a glorious, crumbling medieval English mansion. It is one of the last of the great houses and it is falling down around them as they have no money to keep it up. The year is 1954, Penelope is 18 and Inigo 16. Jonnie Ray is all the rage as a pop star, rationing has ended, the youth of England are bursting with life and change. Elvis Presley is about to be discovered in the U.S.
Into this setting enter Charlotte and ...more

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Jul 25, 2009 Debbie Robson rated it it was amazing

What a delight! I've always felt that the 1950s is a neglected decade as far as fiction goes and in Eva Rice's hands the decade (or at least the years 1954/55) are tellingly drawn. I love the descriptions and the feel of the house Magna, the parties at Dorset House and the Ritz and the afternoons at Aunt Clare's.
This is an intelligent and atmospheric book which is very well written. It is a pity because of these things that there were a few discrepancies. For one I couldn't get Penelope's age r ...more

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