Book Club Review: The Secret Keeper

We rushed to get in a book club meeting before Baby Gurl's arrival, which we accomplished on Sunday! We are finally back to the beginning, so it was my turn to host. I previously read another Kate Morton book, The Forgotten Garden, which I really liked, so I picked her newest book, The Secret Keeper.

Plot: During a summer party at the family farm in the English countryside, sixteen-year-old Laurel Nicolson has escaped to her childhood tree house and is happily dreaming of the future. She spies a stranger coming up the long road to the farm and watches as her mother speaks to him. Before the afternoon is over, Laurel will witness a shocking crime. A crime that challenges everything she knows about her family and especially her mother, Dorothy—her vivacious, loving, nearly perfect mother.

   Now, fifty years later, Laurel is a successful and well-regarded actress living in London. The family is gathering at Greenacres farm for Dorothy’s ninetieth birthday. Realizing that this may be her last chance, Laurel searches for answers to the questions that still haunt her from that long-ago day, answers that can only be found in Dorothy’s past.

   Dorothy’s story takes the reader from pre–WWII England through the blitz, to the ’60s and beyond. It is 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 and the unexpected consequences they sometimes bring. It is an unforgettable story of lovers and friends, deception and passion that is told—in Morton’s signature style—against a backdrop of events that changed the world.

Review: Everyone seemed to enjoy this book which is always worrisome when it's your turn to pick! I thought it was really good (although a little slow to start), but I liked The Forgotten Garden better. In light of last week's tragedy, there was lots of discussion that connected the tragedies in this book to what's going on in our world. So not the happiest of discussions, ha. Overall, I'd say give this one a read!