Rare is the audiobook where the exceptional narrator provides as much of the enjoyment of the story as the talented writer does in bringing it to life. "The Secret Keeper," however, does just that. Both the author, Kate Morton, and the narrator, Caroline Lee, have received the highest of accolades from fans of this audiobook.
One reviewer confessed to putting off buying either the novel or the ebook because she wanted her first experience of this long-awaited novel to be from the mouth of narrator Caroline Lee. The pair are that good.
The year is 1961. Sixteen-year-old Laurel Nicholson has momentarily escaped a family gathering and climbed into a favorite tree. There, she witnesses an interaction between her mother, Dorothy, and a stranger. What happens next sets in motion a series of unspeakable events that do not see the light of day for decades to come.
Laurel lives a full and successful life, gaining much success as an adult in her acting career. It is not until she returns home to care for her 90-year-old dying mother that she begins to ask questions and bring up past events.
In this novel, the story jumps back and forth from 2011 to the 1960s and all the way back to World War II Britain. Family secrets, lies, betrayal, genealogy and even murder play into the scenes as they unravel. The result is a thrilling story that readers and listeners alike will love right up until the last of the nineteen-hours-long audiobook.
Novelist Kate Morton's first career choice was to be an actor. Her background is in English literature and classical drama. Morton was born in 1976 in Berri, South Australia. She developed a passion for words early on as she grew up with her sisters in Queensland, Australia.
Morton's other novels are set against a background filled with historical events, people and places. Her knowledge and expertise of these time periods add texture and substance to her story. The listener lives vicariously the lives of Morton's characters and shares in their history, peeking into the past and becoming privy to secrets of which the characters themselves have little inkling.
Morton's first novel, The House of Riverton, met with enormous success and has since sold more than a million copies.
Morton lives with her husband, composer Davin Patterson, and their two sons.
"A mystery that I couldn't put down. An adult daughter is caring for her dying mother and remembers a crime she saw her mother commit when she was a child. The book then outlines how this daughter tries to uncover what happened (she attempts to ask her mother but she is too sick to be coherent) at the same time the book flashes back in time and shows the reader the exact events. Several unexpected twists at the end made this a really great book. Will look for more by this author."
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Catherine (5 out of 5 stars)