Summer Reading List: The Secret Keeper
The Secret Keeper
Kate Morton
9781742374376
I know a lot of people who are thinking about splurging on this one for Christmas. It is a whopping $35 a copy, which is exorbitant for a book, I know! Luckily, I got my copy free from Allen and Unwin- I won it by retweeting a link and I couldn't believe my luck. This means that I, poor starving student (well actually, not anymore...hmm...) can review this lovely tome for you all before you part with your cash.
I've met Kate at a launch of her last book, The Distant Hours which was hosted by my local Dymocks. She also replied to a rather squee-ing fangirl email I sent her a few years back after I devoured her first two novels. She's Queensland's very own Glamazon author. Gorgeous, a mother, and a fabulous author, it was almost too much that she was nice as well, but she was.
But far be it from me to try and win your support of this book with a discussion of it's author. After all, some of the meanest people out there can be excellent writers and it stands to reason that sometimes the nice ones... well they suck.
I have mixed feelings about The Secret Keeper. Kate's earlier novels captivated my young imagination. They were books that I read in a flurry of excitement, and once finished I was totally inspired. The Shifting Fog, or The House at Riverton as it's known in other countries was the kind of book that I wished with all my heart that I had written. But The Secret Keeper, while deftly plotted falls a little short in the romance department. I think to some extent, this is a book which strives a little too hard for a standard set by previous publications. At times, the prose becomes bogged down by flowery adjectives and introspective thinking. It says in about 400 pages what it could probably say in two. If you can forgive that and allow yourself to be swept up in the story however I think you will find that this is captivating, clever read, and once again a sort of love letter to great literature- this time, making reference to Peter Pan. The book is also set during the London Blitz which is a popular topic among romantic historians.
If you liked The Distant Hours, have a read of The Secret Keeper.
I give this book three and a half out of five.
**If you would like me to do a tutorial on how to do the make up look from the cover of this book, let me know in the comments.**
*What was your favourite Kate Morton book?*
Kate Morton
9781742374376
I know a lot of people who are thinking about splurging on this one for Christmas. It is a whopping $35 a copy, which is exorbitant for a book, I know! Luckily, I got my copy free from Allen and Unwin- I won it by retweeting a link and I couldn't believe my luck. This means that I, poor starving student (well actually, not anymore...hmm...) can review this lovely tome for you all before you part with your cash.
But far be it from me to try and win your support of this book with a discussion of it's author. After all, some of the meanest people out there can be excellent writers and it stands to reason that sometimes the nice ones... well they suck.
I have mixed feelings about The Secret Keeper. Kate's earlier novels captivated my young imagination. They were books that I read in a flurry of excitement, and once finished I was totally inspired. The Shifting Fog, or The House at Riverton as it's known in other countries was the kind of book that I wished with all my heart that I had written. But The Secret Keeper, while deftly plotted falls a little short in the romance department. I think to some extent, this is a book which strives a little too hard for a standard set by previous publications. At times, the prose becomes bogged down by flowery adjectives and introspective thinking. It says in about 400 pages what it could probably say in two. If you can forgive that and allow yourself to be swept up in the story however I think you will find that this is captivating, clever read, and once again a sort of love letter to great literature- this time, making reference to Peter Pan. The book is also set during the London Blitz which is a popular topic among romantic historians.
If you liked The Distant Hours, have a read of The Secret Keeper.
I give this book three and a half out of five.
**If you would like me to do a tutorial on how to do the make up look from the cover of this book, let me know in the comments.**
*What was your favourite Kate Morton book?*