“The Secret Keeper” by Kate Morton – Fifty Years of Mystery

It seems that Kate Morton is someone who enjoys looking at long-forgotten pasts, or at least that’s the impression she gives in many of her novels, including The Forgotten Garden and The House at Riverton. In The Secret Keeper, she once again takes the same path, this time following the story of Laurel Nicholson, starting when she was sixteen years of age and living on a farm with her parents.

One night, she notices a man speaking to her mother, and later witnesses a very shocking crime, and while she could potentially figure out what happened by herself, she never had the proof needed to make any definitive conclusions. 

Now, fast-forward to fifty years later, when Laurel is a successful actress in London, and her mother, Dorothy, has reached the ripe of age of ninety. Somewhat in celebration of this milestone, the family gathers at the farm, providing Laurel with the perfect, and perhaps the last opportunity to figure out what it is that truly transpired on that night more than fifty years ago.

As was mentioned in the beginning, Kate Morton seems to have a fascination for long lost secrets (as do I, to be honest), and this time around she doesn’t disappoint either. Those of you who are more mystery-minded readers, that is, what hooks you is the big, main mystery that drives the story forward, you’ll be far from disappointed here. 

Even though it is true that Kate Morton does cover many other topics apart from the main plotline itself (more on that a bit later), part of what drives you to plough through the book is the desire to find out if Laured really saw what she thought she did, and whether she was right in her inner suspicions about her mother. Not only is the mystery itself pretty intriguing, but I suspect that it must hit close to home for many people; betrayal is one of the things we are afraid of the most as it shatters our current perception of our personal world.

Apart from that, the novel is actually quite extensive, going from pre-WWII Britain all the way to the late 60s, and even further. More precisely, our vehicle for this trip throughout history is Dorothy herself as she recalls her own convoluted past, her chance meeting with Vivien and Jim (two people that would change her life forever), and the events that led up to what Laurel had witnessed.

In the end, I see this book being an exploration of the human tendency to keep going for what we desire; the greater our attraction towards the object we covet, the harder it is for us to look past the consequences which may arise from it. 

It makes for a long and epic story of love, passion, mystery, betrayal and deception, one that takes place during some of the most important events of the century, in true Kate Morton style. A read greatly recommended to her fans as well as anyone else who even remotely enjoys these long types of books with many aspects to them.

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Kate Morton Personal site Kate Morton is an author hailing from Australia who has enjoyed local and international success with her writings, with some of her more respected books including The House at Riverton, The Forgotten Garden and The Distant Hours. She often made the bestseller lists in the UK and locally, and her novels have already been published in more than 38 countries.