Read: The Secret Keeper

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Please tell me you've heard of Kate Morton? She's an Australian author who writes incredibly interesting, plot-driven stories. She's a master at foreshadowing and her books demand to be finished. She conjures up characters you can't abandon on the page - you have to keep reading until the plot is resolved.

Morton's latest offering - The Secret Keeper - is easily the most engrossing book I've read since Christmas. The story begins in England on a peaceful summer afternoon in the 1960s. Sixteen-year-old Laurel Nichol is hiding from her younger siblings in the tree house at their country home when she sees a visitor knock on the door. Laurel's mother answers and after exchanging a few words with the stranger, proceeds to stab and kill him. Laurel's parents tell her the man was a dangerous drifter, but as time passes she begins to question the truth behind this horrific incident.

Fast forward five decades, Laurel is a famous actress and her mother is dying. Before its too late, she goes on a quest to discover the identity of the man who was murdered and learn more about her mother's mysterious past. Much of the story takes place in London during The Blitz and as the plot complicates it becomes apparent that war changes everyone.

A few takeaways (minus any plot reveals):

I love the topic of personal transformation. How an individual can change over the course of a lifetime and how past mistakes don't have to define us. We can always, always reinvent ourselves moving forward. Decide the kind of person we want to be is different from the person we've been. I think this is the theme at the heart of The Secret Keeper.

Another major theme of the novel is family. How you can feel isolated even within the context of the most loving, supportive, and "normal" family imaginable. The story also touches on the idea that families are not always what they seem.

Something else I love about The Secret Keeper is when part of the story is told through the eyes of a child. At times, Morton's writing seems to border on magical realism, but what she's really describing is how life is more mysterious when we're young. She is wonderful at capturing how juvenile understanding can make even the mundane seem magical.

My final take-away from The Secret Keeper is how your dreams can sustain you through some pretty horrible stuff. Even if you aren't living the life you've imagined, hope for the future can  help you bear even the most difficult circumstances.

Have you read The Secret Keeper? What did you think?

Love,
Ellen Louise