REVIEW: 'The Secret Keeper' by Kate Morton
I recently realized the reason behind my love for Kate Morton revival. She has a new book out called The Clockmaker's Daughter and the book bloggers community on Instagram are going mad for it. In a lot of ways, I am glad for this. It means that it is easier for me to convert anyone who will listen to become a Morton fan too, and have the pleasure of entering the emotionally driven works she creates. For entirely selfish reasons, it is a bit stressful. This is because I can't seem to find a Kate Morton book in any library anywhere (they're on a very long waiting list - I checked), so am reduced to sheepish glances and the shiny new copies in the full-price book shop down my road. A girl can dream.
But!
The arrival of this new book and my inability to get my hands on it has given me sufficient time to make my way through her backlog which I hadn't previously had the pleasure of familiarizing myself. If you follow my Instagram, you will know that I've nearly finished The Distant Hours which I am thoroughly enjoying, but while we wait we will speak about The Secret Keeper. No spoilers now!
The Secret Keeper is - like many of Morton's works - set during the second world war. Her alluring writing style shines through in this novel, with the fabulous inter-generational narrative between daughter and mother driving the narrative forward. The former, Laurel Nicolson, is a fairly well known actress who has a memory of her childhood she wishes to be explained. Her mother, Dorothy, is now ninety, and - what I discovered in later reads was typical for Morton's characters - had a lot of secrets.
The youthful characters that Morton creates are full to the bursting of a rebellious, loud, boisterous energy. The fire behind their eyes and in their hearts will draw readers of all ages to their side and they will hold out their hand for you to hold, willing you to keep up. It is true that at some points I was not able to keep up, and had to put the book down for a time to live in the real world's slightly more tedious dramas. Readers often speak of novels that they simply could not put down and consequentially finished in a day. The Secret Keeper is not such a novel.
The confidence with which Laurel navigates her successful career as an actress, her anxiety and thrill gained from unraveling answers to questions long-held, as well as the destruction of a significant source of these powerful qualities will be examined, explained and built upon. You will fall in and out of affection with Laurel as she tests boundaries and challenges family traditions.
The foil of these characters are able to counteract this quick pace and bring perspective. The older narrative voice brings a more mature history of mistakes, opportunities missed and retrospective view to the novel. I know that after reading this novel I could certainly never look at my superiors in the same two-dimensional way that I had been used to in my naive again.
Though this and many novels following of Morton's have been branded to be by the author of The House at Riverton, The Secret Keeper will always be in my heart as the novel that introduced me to Morton's works and a significant point in my reading career.
Paperback/ Audiobook
But!
The arrival of this new book and my inability to get my hands on it has given me sufficient time to make my way through her backlog which I hadn't previously had the pleasure of familiarizing myself. If you follow my Instagram, you will know that I've nearly finished The Distant Hours which I am thoroughly enjoying, but while we wait we will speak about The Secret Keeper. No spoilers now!The Secret Keeper is - like many of Morton's works - set during the second world war. Her alluring writing style shines through in this novel, with the fabulous inter-generational narrative between daughter and mother driving the narrative forward. The former, Laurel Nicolson, is a fairly well known actress who has a memory of her childhood she wishes to be explained. Her mother, Dorothy, is now ninety, and - what I discovered in later reads was typical for Morton's characters - had a lot of secrets.
The youthful characters that Morton creates are full to the bursting of a rebellious, loud, boisterous energy. The fire behind their eyes and in their hearts will draw readers of all ages to their side and they will hold out their hand for you to hold, willing you to keep up. It is true that at some points I was not able to keep up, and had to put the book down for a time to live in the real world's slightly more tedious dramas. Readers often speak of novels that they simply could not put down and consequentially finished in a day. The Secret Keeper is not such a novel.
The confidence with which Laurel navigates her successful career as an actress, her anxiety and thrill gained from unraveling answers to questions long-held, as well as the destruction of a significant source of these powerful qualities will be examined, explained and built upon. You will fall in and out of affection with Laurel as she tests boundaries and challenges family traditions.
The foil of these characters are able to counteract this quick pace and bring perspective. The older narrative voice brings a more mature history of mistakes, opportunities missed and retrospective view to the novel. I know that after reading this novel I could certainly never look at my superiors in the same two-dimensional way that I had been used to in my naive again.
Though this and many novels following of Morton's have been branded to be by the author of The House at Riverton, The Secret Keeper will always be in my heart as the novel that introduced me to Morton's works and a significant point in my reading career.
Paperback/ Audiobook
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