The Secret Keeper in Aussie Readers

Sep 17, 2012 Mish rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: australian-authors

It’s the 1960’s in an English countryside of Greenacres Farm, where the Nicolson family are celebrating a birthday with a picnic. 16year old Laurel is hiding out in a tree house to escape her younger siblings, daydreaming of boys and plans for her glamorous future as an actor. While Laurel was in the tree house unnoticed, she witnessed her mother commit a shockingly violent crime towards a stranger. The truth of her mother’s actions was never openly discussed but Laurel does have strong feelings It’s the 1960’s in an English countryside of Greenacres Farm, where the Nicolson family are celebrating a birthday with a picnic. 16year old Laurel is hiding out in a tree house to escape her younger siblings, daydreaming of boys and plans for her glamorous future as an actor. While Laurel was in the tree house unnoticed, she witnessed her mother commit a shockingly violent crime towards a stranger. The truth of her mother’s actions was never openly discussed but Laurel does have strong feelings it’s linked to her mothers past. A past she’s kept hidden so well from her family. These violent images of this day, feeling of guilt, and the unknown truth never left Laurel. The once affectionate caring mother felt like a stranger, and it troubled Laurel through to her adult years.

In the present day, Laurel reunites with her family as her mother’s health deteriorates. Coming to the realisation that her mother may not have long to live and it could be her last hope in obtaining answers, Laurel starts questioning and researching into her mothers past. Her research takes Laurel back in time to 1930’s England through to WWII London blitz where she discovers her mother and two other people – strangers - that could provide the answers to her mother’s darkest secret.

The Secret Keeper turned out to be far better then I anticipated but it took a long time before it got to this point. If it weren’t for members of a book group telling me to persist, I wouldn’t have finished it. The book shifts from the present to the 1930’s focusing on 3 strangers lives, how they came together and where it fell apart. In first half of the book it delves into the life and mindset of one of the 3 that Laurel discovered. A life of shallow and self-centred lady, her moved to London, her desire to associate and be admired by London’s social upper class, and relationship with her boyfriend. In the back of my mind, I kept thinking there’s something not right with this particular lady; there’s more to her then it seem but I just couldn’t put my finger on it. Her mindset was significant to the plot twist and I tried to stay interested, but unfortunately it took 250 pages of long-winded writing before it got to the heart of the matter and/or to get her message across. However, about the half waypoint it felt like another author stepped in and wrote it – I was glued to the pages, couldn’t read quick enough. Tight and riveting moving plot of devastating, traumatising family secrets, unimaginable violence, deception and envy.

It was a remarkable, faultless ending but I'm a bit wary of reading another Kate Morton book in the future.
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Nov 11, 2012 Bree T rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, aww2012, historical-fiction, family-saga

It is 1961 and while her family are having a picnic by the stream at her family farm, sixteen year old Laurel is daydreaming in the treehouse about her boyfriend Billy, seeing plays at the theatre and moving to London and becoming a household name. Knowing she should go and get the ceremonial knife used to cut every family birthday cake, Laurel lingers, just wanting to enjoy the peace and her fantasies a little longer. Her reluctance to rejoin the party means that she is the witness to a shockin It is 1961 and while her family are having a picnic by the stream at her family farm, sixteen year old Laurel is daydreaming in the treehouse about her boyfriend Billy, seeing plays at the theatre and moving to London and becoming a household name. Knowing she should go and get the ceremonial knife used to cut every family birthday cake, Laurel lingers, just wanting to enjoy the peace and her fantasies a little longer. Her reluctance to rejoin the party means that she is the witness to a shocking crime committed by someone she loves dearly. It is something she never forgets.

Fifty years later, Laurel is a well-known character actress in her mid-sixties and she has been called home because her mother Dorothy is extremely unwell and her time is nearing. Laurel finds a curious photo that plunges her back into that day, all those years ago and that coupled with a few things her mother says as she drifts in and out of sleep lead Laurel to decide that it’s time she got to the bottom of what really happened in the garden that day.

Dorothy, known as ‘Dolly’ was desperate to escape her suffocating family. Full of ideas and daydreams, she takes the position of companion to a wealthy woman during war time when London is crumbling under the Blitz. She strikes up an acquaintance with Vivien across the road and imagines herself as Vivien’s great friend. Vivien is stunningly beautiful, rich and married to a novelist who makes no secret of the fact that he considers her his greatest muse. Dolly has Jimmy, her boyfriend, a wartime photographer and the two of them want to be married when they are able to do it properly and make a life for themselves. But Dolly finds herself caught up in a world that she is sure she belongs in and when she is slighted she unleashes a plot for revenge that will have everlasting effects on herself, Jimmy and Vivien that will leave scars to last a lifetime.

The Secret Keeper is Australian author Kate Morton’s most recent novel and the first that I have read. I have intended to read earlier ones at different points in time but it just hasn’t worked out. When this one was published, there was a huge promotional push by the Australian publisher – they gave away lots of copies (one of which I won) and also gave plenty of bloggers copies to give away (of which I gave away 10). It was obvious that this book was considered to be something special so I was quite keen to get stuck into it. There’s some reviews around already and the reports are good.

What you have here is a multi-layered story encompassing the life of Dorothy, nicknamed “Dolly” Smitham and her dissatisfaction with her life living with her strict father and her formerly creative, now repressed mother. Dolly assumes she is destined for greatness, she dreams big but unfortunately big dreams don’t always pay off. Dolly is now coming to the end of her life and her eldest child Laurel has flown home to be with her and the rest of the family and perhaps get to the bottom of a mystery that has been at the back of her mind for 50 years. In Laurel’s digging, she will discover Vivien Jenkins. The two women knew each other only vaguely and for a short time but on Dolly’s side it was a genuine friendship of equals. Their brief crossing of paths would have a devastating effect on them both and leads to secrets kept for a lifetime.

The Secret Keeper is certainly an engrossing story as you peel away each narrative, each layer, each untruth and get to the bottom of the secret. The characters are very well fleshed out, including the relatively unlikable Dolly, her young self so at odds with the mother Laurel knows, the distant Vivien and in the present time, Dolly’s grieving family. There are pieces of this plot you will guess, there are times you will be wrong and there will be things that happen that you do not predict that will make you gasp and flip back to see if that is what really happened. It’s rather masterfully done in places, but I do feel that it’s a bit long in some parts, particularly the first 2-300p. The second half is by far the best half, faster paced and full of information, twists and turns. It makes the slower first half worth it, if you can stick it out. I read the first 300p and then put it down for a couple of days before returning to it and finishing the rest in one sitting.

The only thing that seemed a bit far-fetched was the ease with which Laurel and her brother discovered everything they needed to know. Correspondence from some 50+ years ago was miraculously kept and donated to libraries and far too easy for Laurel to track down. Families remained in the same house for generations, allowing Laurel to just stumble on people relevant to providing her with the last little piece of the puzzle. It just seemed like for something that happened so long ago, at a time when the city was being bombed, things were being destroyed, it was remarkably easy for Laurel and her sibling, who was aiding her in the investigation (for lack of a better term) to find out exactly what they needed from any given person, even though they were long dead. People confided everything they needed to know in letters, which were then preserved and kept in a public place. I know Vivien was part of a well-to-do society and was written about in newspapers and publications but it just did seem a little too easy. I would’ve liked a little more of the story to be spent on Laurel trying to find the information.

That one niggle aside, this is an extremely enjoyable and engaging book that makes me want to read more of Kate Morton’s novels. ...more

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Dec 16, 2017 Melinda rated it really liked it

It starts when Laurel (the daughter) witnesses her mother do something terrible. It is never properly explained, and now her mother is 90 years old and dying, Laurel feels compelled to get answers to what happened on that long ago day. This book has multiple plot lines across different time periods. It is about the secrets we keep and how they get exposed. This book is told in 4 parts: Laurel, Dolly, Vivien and Dorothy. I think you either love or hate Kate Morton’s writing - if you have read any ...more

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