The Secret Keeper - Book Review

Published:  2012

It's about:  As the book opens in 1961, we are introduced to 16-year old Laurel who witnesses a crime from the vantage point of her childhood tree house.  Fifty years later, Laurel, a well-established and successful actress, is still trying to come to terms with the repercussions of what she witnessed.  As her mother (Dorothy) lays dying, Laurel searches for answers to the questions that haunt her. 

As the mystery is disentangled, we are transported to war-torn London in 1941, to the crime and the subsequent requisite secrecy in 1961, and to Laurel's desperate quest for answers in 2011.  We are riveted by the main characters: Laurel, Dorothy, Vivien and Jimmy.  We are drawn into their lives, their dreams, their disappointments, their hopes.  We have no choice -- the characters are realistically depicted and well-developed.

I thought:  As a reader, I "became" Laurel, then Dorothy, then Vivien.  What a jolt it was when I realized that I wasn't who I thought I was.  

Verdict:   ★★★★★
I loved this book. I couldn't wait to find out what would happen.  I'm usually pretty good at figuring out how the story will end.  I was stunned by the twist.

Reading Recommendation:  It's a riveting mystery novel.  You won't want to put it down.

Favorite Quotes:  “And as the train whistled its imminent departure, a small girl wearing neat plaits and someone else's shoes climbed its iron stairs. Smoke filled the platform, people waved and hollered, a stray dog ran barking through the crowds. Nobody noticed as the little girl stepped over the shadowed threshold; not even Aunt Ada, who some might've expected to be sheperherding her orphaned niece towards her uncertain future. And so, when the essence of light and life that had been Vivien Longmeyer contracted itself for safekeeping and disappeared deep inside her, the world kept moving and nobody saw it happen.” 

“... people who'd led dull and blameless lives did not give thanks for second chances.”