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.

Top Ten Authors That I'd Put On My Auto-Buy List

This week's Top Ten from The Broke and the Bookish asks for the Top Ten Authors That I'd Put On My Auto-Buy List. These are authors that you love so much you as no questions about their latest book, you just add it to your wishlist. I have lots of classic authors that would fall into this category, but I’m only going to list authors that are still writing books.

1) Maeve Binchy (she passed away this year, but she still has one unreleased book)

2) Jhumpa Lahiri

3) Carlos Ruiz Zafon

4) Jasper Fforde

5) Kate Morton

6) Nick Hornby

7) John Green

8) Tana French

9) Markus Zusak

10) Neil Gaiman

Image form here. 

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.

*** *** ***

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

The Distant Hours

The Distant Hours
by Kate Morton
★★★★☆

I will officially read whatever Morton writes. After my experience with The Forgotten Garden last year I knew I liked her style, but this book cemented it for me. Her books can certainly run a bit longer than they need to be, but when it comes to a gothic mystery with old ruined castles and buried secrets, I like a bit of meandering. I don’t read it sitting on the edge of my seat for the big reveal in the end. I guessed some plot twists and was surprised by others, but the twist isn't really the point with her books. You're so fascinated by the characters that you want to know what happens, but you’re also comfortable slowly peeling back the layers.

Three elderly sisters, Juniper, Saffy and Percy, live alone in Milderhurst Castle. The story’s central character, Edie, stumbles upon their home after her mother reveals that she lived with them for a short time during the London bombings in WWII.

The story bounces back and forth between WWII and 1992. There are about five minor and major plots that weave together; Edie’s personal life, her mother’s story, the back story of each of the three sisters, their father’s history and the story behind his famous book (The True History of the Mud Man). It sounds like a lot, but it never becomes confusing. There’s a bit of love, broken hearts, abandoned dreams and, of course, family secrets.

The sisters are wonderful characters. Juniper, the baby of the family, is a recreation of Miss Havisham from Great Expectations. Saffy is a sweet-natured woman who can’t seem to stand up to her twin sister. Percy is the headstrong eldest sister and she takes care of everyone in her family, whether they like it or not. The trio has a great dynamic, both as elderly women in 1992 and young women during the war. There’s an intense protective nature in everything they do they speaks to the unbreakable bonds of a family.

The Forgotten Garden is my favorite of Morton’s books so far, but I really enjoyed this one. I’m looking forward to reading The House at Riverton and whatever she writes next. If you loved The Thirteenth Tale or Rebecca, I would highly recommend this one.

“It’s a funny thing, character, the way it brands people as they age, rising from within to leave its scar.”

“Lack of potatoes left a person’s stomach growling, but absence of beauty hardened the soul.”

“I can’t imagine facing the end of the day without a story to drop into on my way towards sleep.”

“Insecurities and hurts, anxieties and fears grow teeth at night.”

The Forgotten Garden

The Forgotten Garden
by Kate Morton
★★★★★

When she was only four years old, Nell was put on an ocean liner traveling from London to Australia all by herself. She’s adopted by a family in Australia and isn’t told the truth about her history until she’s 21. The novel unfolds the mystery of Nell’s life, while at the same time introducing us to her granddaughter Cassandra and a young woman from her past named Eliza.

The book flips back and forth between Eliza’s story at the turn of the century (1900-1913), Nell’s story (mainly 1975), and Cassandra’s in 2005. I loved all three of the main characters because they were survivors. They each had their own tragedies that influenced the choices they made, but those back stories didn’t hijack the main plot line, they just enhanced it.

There’s also a great supporting cast of characters, both good and bad guys. Each new character made the story richer, adding layers to the mystery. The pacing is wonderful. There is just the right amount of information revealed as you go along. Each answer introduces new questions to the reader and you don’t want to stop until you know the whole story. The style reminded me a bit of The Thirteenth Tale, Fingersmith and Shadow of the Wind, which in my opinion, is high praise.

When I started they book I thought it was going to be a sweet story about an English village or something. I had no idea it was a gothic mystery. It turned out to be just my kind of novel, one I didn’t want to put down.

I also really liked that the story isn’t steered by a romance. It is, first and foremost, the women’s stories. Their three lives are intertwined and as the book goes along we get to discover how. It doesn’t hurt that much of it is set in England. I’m a fan of the spooky, but gorgeous English countryside as a setting.

In addition to the mystery itself, the book addresses a few other issues. It questions how important your identity is. Does knowing who you are and where you come from matter? It also looks closely at the relationship between mothers and daughters.

All-in-all I loved the book. For me, it had the perfect balance of character driven story, mystery, and historical fiction, with a splash of fairy tale thrown in for good measure.

“Did those with passage booked on death’s silent ship always scan the dock for faces of the long departed?”

“That, my dear, is what makes a character interesting, their secrets.”

“I sometimes feel my entire life is a series of accidents and chances – not that I’m complaining. One can be very happy having relinquished all expectation of control.”

“You make a life out of what you have, not what you're missing."

“Cassandra always hid when she read, though she never quite knew why. It was as if she couldn’t quite shake the guilty suspicion that she was being lazy, that surrendering herself so completely to something so enjoyable must surely be wrong.”