The Secret Keeper

The Secret Keeper

by Kate Morton

★★★★☆

Kate Morton has earned a reputation as an expert gothic mystery writer. If you pick up one of her fat novels you know what you’re in for. So far I have loved each of her novels, The Forgotten Garden, The Distant Hours and The House at Riverton, but I thought Morton might disappoint me this time. I made it about ¾ of the way through this novel and still didn’t know if I liked it. Needless to say I judged it too soon, I shouldn’t have doubted her.

A famous actress, Laurel, returns home to visit her ailing mother, Dorothy. As she reconnects with her sisters and explores her childhood home she can’t help but reminisce about some strange details from her childhood, particularly a violent event that happened when she was a teen. She begins to learn more about her parents’ history as she researches their lives during World War II.

The book switches between multiple points of view, Laurel, Dorothy, Dorothy’s boyfriend Jimmy and her friend Vivien. I loved this aspect of the book because it gives the reader a chance to get to know each character and to question the honesty of the narrative. I really loved the pieces of the story set during WWII. Though the middle was a bit slow for me the end was well worth the wait.

BOTTOM LINE: If you’re a fan of Morton’s novels you can’t miss this one! If you’re new to her work I would check out The Forgotten Garden, my personal favorite. She’s a sure bet for anyone who loves a great gothic mystery.  

I read this for the R.I.P. Challenge hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings.

The House at Riverton

The House at Riverton 

by Kate Morton

★★★★☆

Morton’s novels are always fun reads for me and this one didn’t disappoint. With shades of du Maurier’s Rebecca and the BBC’s Downton Abbey, the book was a wonderful mystery. I read this as part of the read-along hosted by Words and Peace, but I couldn’t manage to slow down long enough to keep to the reading schedule. Oh well.

We meet Grace at the end of her life. She is living out her days at a retirement home when she finds out a movie is being made about a dramatic event that happened in her youth. As a teenager Grace worked as a house maid at a large manor, Riverton, in the English countryside. A young poet committed suicide at the home one night and the mystery surrounding the evening has always left people wanting to know more. Grace decides it might be time to finally reveal the truth of what happened.

Like all of Morton’s novels, this one has themes of mother/daughter relationships, long-kept secrets and the English countryside. Grace’s mother used to work at Riverton and we slowly learn bits of her history as well.

After a few years at Riverton Grace becomes a lady’s maid for the Hartford sisters, Hannah and Emmeline. Their close relationship allows Grace to give us a wide-view of the happenings in the house. As the years pass and relationships become more complicated the story reminds us that one man’s happiness is another man’s prison.

I thought the relationship between Hannah and Emmeline was one of the most fascinating elements of the story. The relationship between sisters is like no other. It tends to be fraught with both love and jealousy, creating a strange and precarious balance. Morton captured this perfectly, allowing us to understand and sympathize with both sisters throughout the novel.
 
BOTTOM LINE: I really enjoyed it. The Forgotten Garden is my favorite of her’s so far, but I have a theory that your first Morton is always your favorite. This one was the perfect book to give me a Downton Abbey fix until I can watch the third season. Curl up and read it while it's cold outside!

“‘No. Not a mystery. Just a nice safe history.’ Ah my darling. But there is no such thing.”

“…for home is a magnet that lures back even its most abstracted children.”

“It is an uncanny feeling, that rare occasion when one catches a glimpse of oneself in repose. An unguarded moment, stripped of artifice, when one forgets to fool even oneself.” 

“Reading is one of life’s great pleasures; talking about books keeps their worlds alive for longer.” (This last quote actually came form an interview with Morton at the end of my book)
 
You can’t find my thoughts on the beginning of the novel here.

House at Riverton Read-along

I think I've made it clear that I love Kate Morton's books. So when Words and Peace decided to host a read-along of one of her books that I hadn't read, The House at Riverton, I just had to join in. She posted a list of questions for everyone to answer. So here are both the questions and my answers. There might be some spoilers of Part 1.

On Part 1: from 'Ghosts Stir' to 'Until We Meet Again'

Please share your favorite lines:

“I was not a rebel – indeed, back then I had a fierce sense of duty – but to live without Holmes and Watson was unthinkable.”

“…for home is a magnet that lures back even its most abstracted children.”

“It is an uncanny feeling, that rare occasion when one catches a glimpse of oneself in repose. An unguarded moment, stripped of artifice, when one forgets to fool even oneself.”

Ghosts Stir:

What effect do the first 2 sentences have on you, as a reader?
It immediately reminded me of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.

Does this chapter draw you in? How does the author manage to do this?
Yes, it sets up the secrets and the mystery. I wanted to know how the main character’s life is woven in with the Hartford sisters.

The Nursery:

If you mentioned the title of another book in question #1, do you find here more things in common with that book?
Yes, a new person being introduced into a home, but this book is told from a servant’s POV instead of the lady of the house’s POV.

Waiting for the recital:

What’s your feeling toward the Game?
It sounds like child’s play, but there’s some serious foreboding as well.

All Good Things:

Merriam-Webster describes “suspense” as “pleasant excitement as to a decision or outcome” of a novel. How does the author create the suspense here?
She shows Hannah attempting to push the boundaries with her father and the war starts.

Morton often integrates the themes of memory, relationships between generations, secret, in her novels. How has she worked them, and other themes you may have identified, in this story?
The story is all about Grace’s secret, her relationship with her own mother and relationship with her daughter. That theme echoes all of Morton’s other books.

In The West:

What do you like most in this chapter?
I loved meeting Robbie and learning about his history; his mother the Spanish maid and his father, a wealthy Lord.

Until We Meet Again:

How would you define what a Gothic novel is? Does your definition apply to the first chapter of this book? Why or why not?
Gothic novels are defined as “a genre or mode of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance.” I think this book definitely fits into this category because it combines multiple romances (Alfred, Teddy, etc.) with mysteries. It’s also very atmospheric, set in a huge English manor with the memory of a death hanging over everyone.

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Next up are the following sections. I'll be following everyone else's posts on Nov. 12 and 19, but I will save my thoughts for a final post on Nov. 26. I finished the book and I don't want to confuse the sections in earlier posts. Happy reading!

November 12: Part 2 – from 'The Twelfth of July' to 'The Ball And After'
November 19: Part 3 – from 'Catching Butterflies' to 'The Choice'
November 26: Part 4 – from 'Hannah's Story' to the end