The Secret Keeper

I very much enjoyed The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton, a local author which has written other successful books.  This story progresses in different time periods, mainly 1941 London and 2011.  Dorothy Nicolson is 90 years old and dying in 2011.  Her daughter Laura, a successful actress, recalls an incident she witnessed as young teenager and tries to discover the reason behind it.  The reader gets to know Dorothy (Dolly) in 1941 and her relationships with Jimmy and Vivien.  We are drawn in to their lives in London while German bombs destroyed much of the city.  Meanwhile Laura in 2011 investigates her mother's past and finds a number of clues that help her unravel the mystery.  The reader is often left with a "cliff-hanger" at the end of a chapter dealing with one period and is then taken to the next.  Therefore, we wait in anticipation for the chapter that will continue that part of the story.  This is a good device to keep the suspense going.  Laura realises that something significant must have happened to her mother during the War and this affected subsequent events.  Eventually the reader and Laura discover the truth and it has been worth reading the 582 pages to get there.  A great read. 5/5