During a party at the family farm in the English countryside, sixteen-year-old Laurel Nicolson has escaped to her childhood tree house and is dreaming of the future. She spies a stranger coming up the road and sees her mother speak to him. Before the afternoon is over, Laurel will witness a shocking crime that challenges everything she knows about her family and especially her mother, Dorothy.
Now, fifty years later, Laurel is a successful and well-regarded actress, living in London. She returns to the family farm for Dorothy's ninetieth birthday and finds herself overwhelmed by questions she has not thought about for decades. From pre-WWII England through the Blitz, to the fifties and beyond, discover the secret history of three strangers from vastly different worlds - Dorothy, Vivien, and Jimmy - who meet by chance in wartime London and whose lives are forever entwined.
The Secret Keeper explores longings and dreams, the lengths people go to fulfill them, and the consequences they can have. It is a story of lovers, friends, dreamers, and schemers told - in Morton's signature style - against a backdrop of events that changed the world.
"Morton's finesse with family secrets increases with each novel." - Kirkus
"Morton weaves an intriguing mystery, shifting between past and present among fully realized characters harboring deep secrets." - People, 4 stars
"Morton deftly leads the reader astray time after time, and just when you're certain you know where the story is headed, she inserts another stunning twist. With well-conceived and well-executed characters, a skillful portrait of London at war and an ingenious plot, she scores another winner that blends love, death and, eventually, redemption" - Richmond Times-Dispatch
"Morton's best-selling work is always classy and nuanced; great for reading groups." - Library Journal
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Rated of 5
by
Dorothy T. Kate Morton is a master story-teller I eagerly awaited the arrival of Kate Morton's new book and was not disappointed. Not only did this one keep me reading until midnight, it kept me awake after I turned out the light, going over details of the developments; this was especially true last night when I finished it. I am always amazed at how this writer knows how much of the story needs to be revealed and when to reveal it to keep the reader engrossed.
Rated of 5
by
Dianne @ The Book Shop Definitely secrets to be kept One of the perks, as if we needed another, of owning a book shop is receiving advance reading copies. I was thrilled when I requested a copy of Kate Morton's new book, The Secret Keeper, which comes out in October and received one!
From the beginning of the novel you are immediately privy to secret number one. As the book continues, you realize there is a whole lot more to come.
As Laurel probes the memory of her childhood and what she saw her mother do she learns that what she witnessed was the culmination of things that had previously happened in her mother's life.
As her mother, Dorothy, lay dying the story unfolds through sequences of the past, snippets from her mother and what Laurel uncovers in her research. Laurel finds out exactly what her mother means by "I made some bad choices." At one time I found myself totally in awe of what one of these choices were. I waited breathlessly to find out the end result.
Kate Morton is a pro a story telling and building suspense. She has another great novel on her hands.
Kate Morton is the eldest of three sisters. She was born in South Australia and moved with her family numerous times before settling, finally, on Tamborine Mountain. There she attended a tiny country school and spent much of her childhood inventing and playing games of make-believe with her sisters.
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