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The Secret Keeper


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Did your feelings for Dorothy change as you read?

Created: 07/09/13

Replies: 19

Posted Jul. 09, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
davinamw

Join Date: 10/15/10

Posts: 3442

Did your feelings for Dorothy change as you read?

Did your feelings for Dorothy change as you read?


Posted Jul. 14, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
dianac

Join Date: 04/02/13

Posts: 91

RE: Did your feelings for Dorothy change as you read?

Not really. I liked her from the beginning, flaws and all, including the revelation of her pseudo-friendship with Vivien. She, like all of us, is imperfect.


Posted Jul. 15, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
joyces

Join Date: 06/16/11

Posts: 410

RE: Did your feelings for Dorothy change as you read?

I was both impressed with Dorothy and very disgusted by her. She was independent and tough but a tad amoral for my taste and had no problem using people for her own ends. She was probably a product of the times(the war) and was surviving as best she knew how but was definitely not the kindest of people. Her rather delusional tendencies really bothered me.


Posted Jul. 15, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
joyces

Join Date: 06/16/11

Posts: 410

RE: Did your feelings for Dorothy change as you read?

I think I have to clarify my statement above. I did not like the Dorothy of 1941 but very much liked the Dorothy/Vivien of Laurel's life as I had liked the Vivien she was formerly. This is a little confusing.


Posted Jul. 15, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
lindav

Join Date: 04/23/11

Posts: 6

RE: Did your feelings for Dorothy change as you read?

Yes, in the beginning I was very much on her side in terms of her parents and in particular,her father, who literally told her that she was never to darken his door again. Then when I learned that all her family was killed, I felt so sorry for her. And she met Jimmy who was such a nice guy, but she was so mean to him, especially in the restaurant when he proposed to her-I had very negative feelings about her. She turned into a spiteful person and I felt she was using Jimmy when she was living in London.


Posted Jul. 15, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
laurap

Join Date: 06/19/12

Posts: 407

RE: Did your feelings for Dorothy change as you read?

I found myself constantly shifting my view of her. I would like her, feel sorry for her, and then get irritated by her manipulative nature and her game-playing. The 1941 Dolly was pretty irritating; I had a good deal more sympathy for the Dorothy of 1961 forward, and the struggles she faced justifying her past behavior. The ending reinforced the more positive feelings.


Posted Jul. 16, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
JulieAB

Join Date: 07/16/13

Posts: 117

RE: Did your feelings for Dorothy change as you read?

I moved back and forth as well. I started off really liking her, but then would change my mind. She frustrated me.


Posted Jul. 16, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
christinep

Join Date: 07/16/13

Posts: 45

RE: Did your feelings for Dorothy change as you read?

In the beginning, I saw a young woman on her own, kind of dreamy. I felt sorry for her because her parents did little to encourage any kind of independence. Then when she was in London, I began to see another side of her and found her to be a bit delusional. It was a mystery to me how this kind of woman became the warm and loving mother that Laurel talked about. It was frustrating to have these feelings about one character and I kept wondering what made this transformation. It took me close to 400 pages to figure it out, lol.


Posted Jul. 17, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Navy Mom

Join Date: 04/12/12

Posts: 294

RE: Did your feelings for Dorothy change as you read?

I sort of liked the young Dolly and thought I was going to be reading a love story. After Dolly got to London, I didn't like her. I liked Vivien throughout the book but when she was the mother I kept wondering when the old selfish Dolly was going to show up.


Posted Jul. 17, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
bettyt

Join Date: 05/12/11

Posts: 228

RE: Did your feelings for Dorothy change as you read?

I could understand Dorothy's drive and drive to up her status in life. What I didn't like was how she used Jimmy's love to such a spiteful manner. But then she redeemed herself by not mailing the letter that contained the "set-up" photo. It wasn't her fault that some "good Samaritan" found the letter and mailed it.


Posted Jul. 17, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
sallyh

Join Date: 09/07/12

Posts: 142

RE: Did your feelings for Dorothy change as you read?

Assuming we're discussing the real Dorothy, my feelings for her changed only in the sense that I disliked her more and more.


Posted Jul. 18, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
mariannes

Join Date: 12/17/12

Posts: 206

RE: Did your feelings for Dorothy change as you read?

I felt like I was seeing the real Dorothy as the story progressed and I liked her less and less.


Posted Jul. 18, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
jeannew

Join Date: 04/23/11

Posts: 118

RE: Did your feelings for Dorothy change as you read?

Yep; I agree with sallyh and mariannes. I liked Dorothy less and less as the story progressed. In today's world I think she would have been diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder.


Posted Jul. 19, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
chocolate mint

Join Date: 07/19/13

Posts: 2

RE: Did your feelings for Dorothy change as you read?

Loved her in the beginning and saw her as a strong and feisty character. By the end of the book, she had become weak and whiney and too self absorbed to know real love.


Posted Jul. 19, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
kathygant

Join Date: 04/21/11

Posts: 14

RE: Did your feelings for Dorothy change as you read?

Yes. At first I liked her innocence but then I wanted to shake her and help her realize the love that Jimmy had for her. She was very obsessed with money and stature. She was missing out on life because of it.


Posted Jul. 24, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
billb

Join Date: 07/23/13

Posts: 5

RE: Did your feelings for Dorothy change as you read?

Agree wholeheartedly with those who found Dorothy/Dolly unlikeable - ditzy, delusional, self centered, unreliable. I also found it amazing how she changed and matured. Then she stabs a stranger from her past who said hello. That was weird.
The end explains all but it was a long trip getting there.


Posted Jul. 25, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
joanp

Join Date: 06/13/11

Posts: 102

RE: Did your feelings for Dorothy change as you read?

I agree with all of the comments. I'm impressed that the author could lead the the reader through the changes of opinion. It's that way in life. The better you know someone your feelings can change.


Posted Jul. 28, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
BethD34

Join Date: 07/28/13

Posts: 16

RE: Did your feelings for Dorothy change as you read?

Yes, they did. I was primed to like Dorothy because of Laurel's recollections of her mother - I was especially charmed by the crocodile story Dorothy told Laurel. :) As I read more of Dorothy's story -about her time in London, I liked her less and less. The only thing that kept me hanging on to any liking or respect for her was Dorothy's deathbed remorse about the plan and how it wasn't supposed to hurt anyone, as well as her remorse about Vivien being killed. In retrospect (after learning the twist and thinking about the characters), I realized Dorothy never expressed any remorse at all. I was confused initially as to why the author would make her so unlikeable - or at least so ambiguous. I kept feeling like, "hmm... Am I supposed to find this trait endearing? Because I just find her shallow and amoral".


Posted Jul. 28, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
BethD34

Join Date: 07/28/13

Posts: 16

RE: Did your feelings for Dorothy change as you read?

I will add that one very interesting thing to me about Dorothy is her status as an unreliable narrator, once it comes out that Vivien didn't know her, that they weren't friends. Immediately everything about her was suspect, which makes for an interesting literary experience! My feelings about Vivien also changed over the course of the book as a result of seeing her through the prism of Dorothy's feelings.


Posted Jul. 29, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
dorothyt

Join Date: 04/10/11

Posts: 102

RE: Did your feelings for Dorothy change as you read?

They certainly did! At times she was sympathetic, then unlikeable, then seemed to change completely, as portrayed by Laurel. I kept wondering what the catalyst for that change was.


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