Book Review: The Secret Keeper

This is the first of Kate Morton’s books that I’ve read even though I’ve had a couple of them on my “to read” list for a while, and I have to say it’s been a great choice for this time of year with its cold, dark evenings perfect for snuggling up with a book.

The Secret Keeper is a story about a family and its secrets, and it travels in time between the 1960’s when 16-year-old Laurel witnesses her mother commit a terrible crime at her family home; the present day when an older Laurel starts to investigate what caused her mother to have done such a thing; and wartime London, which is the time in history where all Laurel’s investigations lead her.

It’s an interesting idea that when we are growing up we give very little thought to who our parents were before they became our parents, and the wartime elements of the book are really interesting as they tell the story of young beautiful people with hopes and dreams very different to the lives they end up living.

At the end of the day it’s a mystery book, so I don’t want to give any spoilers away. It’s a mystery about discovering hidden family secrets, and it’s quite a complicated plot full of twists and turns. Every chapter brings new pieces of information about past events and about who the characters really were. And at the end there is a really big twist. And while I have to admit that I suspected the twist early on (and only because I’d read a similar twist in something else recently), even so the book did its best to put me off the scent and I did wonder quite frequently whether I was way off with my guess. The mystery was very cleverly woven together and it worked really well.

The best thing though was that it was an enjoyable read, full of intricate details about times and places in English history and characters and stories that gradually unravel. I suppose some people might find it quite a slow-moving book, even with the mystery element gaining momentum, but I love books like this that really need to be savoured. That’s why I’ve loved it so much at this time of year, because I’ve had loads of time to sit and read through the dark, depressing January evenings. And now that I’ve read this one I’m looking forward to reading some of Kate Morton’s other books too.

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