Review: "The Secret Keeper" by Kate Morton

From Goodreads:  1959 England. Laurel Nicolson is sixteen years old, dreaming alone in her childhood tree house during a family celebration at their home, Green Acres Farm. She spies a stranger coming up the long road to the farm and then observes her mother, Dorothy, speaking to him. And then she witnesses a crime.

Fifty years later, Laurel is a successful and well-regarded actress, living in London. She returns to Green Acres for Dorothy’s ninetieth birthday and finds herself overwhelmed by memories and questions she has not thought about for decades. She decides to find out the truth about the events of that summer day and lay to rest her own feelings of guilt. One photograph, of her mother and a woman Laurel has never met, called Vivian, is her first clue.

The Secret Keeper explores longings and dreams, the lengths some people go to fulfill them, and the strange consequences they sometimes have. It is a story of lovers, friends, dreamers and schemers, play-acting and deception told against a backdrop of events that changed the world.

My Thoughts:  I recieved this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  Oh my goodness, this book was such a rollercoaster!  The synopsis made the story sound mysterious but I had no idea how many twists and turns there would be.  I felt like every time I thought I had it figured out, some new twist would occur.  There were characters who at first I liked and/or disliked and as the story continued and information revealed, I completely changed my opinion of them.  It definitely was an 'edge of your seat' read.

This book cemented the fact that I like Kate Morton's books.  The Secret Keeper was well-written and her characters were well-developed.  There were a lot of characters in this story and it jumped a lot from past to present but I feel like Morton did a great job of making each character unique and memorable.  The switch to from different perspectives can be confusing at times but that was not the case with this book.  There is a lot I have to say about the characters but I don't want to discuss my feelings about each of them because I would hate to give something away!  All I will say is that there are definitely some great characters in this book.

I loved that the 'past' part of the story was set during the blitz of London.  I don't think I have read a book set in wartime London before.  It made for an interesting backdrop and emphasized how things can change int he blink of an eye which kind of seemed like a common theme throughout the story.  Overall, this was an amazing read and if you're looking for a good book, you should pick this one up.  I will definitely be reading more of Kate Morton's books after this.  4 1/2 stars.