Evening Book Club: Book Club
Contact Information
For more information regarding the Evening Book Club, please contact: Jaclyn Gomez at jgomez@rcls.org
Meeting Schedule
Next Meeting:
January 22, 2024 at 7:00pm
Discussion Questions
Discussion Questions
1. Each of Kate Morton's four novels are securely anchored in their strong sense of time and place. In The Secret Keeper, World War II is a rich and realistic environment–close enough for memory but a long way from our twenty-first century lives–which allows the author to show both the frailty and courage of human nature.
2. The rusted-on loyalties of family members to each other are key in this novel. Do you think Dolly's feelings of unease about her own family contribute to her love of playing make-believe?
3. Laurel had never thought to ask her mother about her life before Dorothy met Stephen Nicolson. And it's impossible for Dolly to imagine Lady Caldicott being young and beautiful wearing those glorious dresses now going musty in the dressing room. And Jimmy's dad loves to tell his stories of the past. How is ageing portrayed in The Secret Keeper?
4. Many readers have commented on how extremely likeable Jimmy is– how has Kate Morton developed his character to make him so?
5. Do you think that The Secret Keeper's characters live the lives they deserve? Were you satisfied and surprised at their various outcomes and their influences on each other?
6. Once you understood Dorothy's reasons for committing that violent action at the end of chapter one, did you find any moral ambiguity in her behaviour? Did she really have a choice?
7. Everyone has their secrets. The Secret Keeper, some more than others! Do you think Laurel is justified in upturning her mother's carefully laid secrets? When is keeping a secret within a family justified?
Book Summary
The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
During a summer party at the family farm in the English countryside, sixteen-year-old Laurel Nicolson has escaped to her childhood tree house and is happily dreaming of the future. She spies a stranger coming up the long road to the farm and watches as her mother speaks to him. Before the afternoon is over, Laurel will witness a shocking crime. A crime that challenges everything she knows about her family and especially her mother, Dorothy—her vivacious, loving, nearly perfect mother.
Now, fifty years later, Laurel is a successful and well-regarded actress living in London. The family is gathering at Greenacres farm for Dorothy’s ninetieth birthday. Realizing that this may be her last chance, Laurel searches for answers to the questions that still haunt her from that long-ago day, answers that can only be found in Dorothy’s past.
An interview with the author
An Interview with the Author
Book Reviews
Reviews of our current book.
Click on the links to read the full review!
- Compass Book RatingsBrilliant and dazzling! Kate Morton does it again in The Secret Keeper. Employing all her distinctive stylistic traits, Morton interweaves eras, character perspectives, and locations to create a spellbinding and rewarding read. Not a mystery, but mysterious….Not a romance, but romantic…Not historical fiction, but historical–The Secret Keeper combines all these elements as a puzzle is unraveled...
- The Book Lover's BoudoirThe Secret Keeper ticks all of the boxes for me. Morton offers us real, vivid and believable characters. The plot is original, compulsive and compelling. The quality of the writing was top form. I had a great time reading this. Morton has one other novel, The Distant Hours that I haven’t read. I will need to seek it out.
- Books: A True StoryThe Secret Keeper was a unique murder mystery about Laurel delving into her mother’s past to find out why her lovely mother murdered someone with a cake knife (Happy birthday! Let’s cut the cake! Where’s the knife? Uh…..we lost it.). This historical fiction story set during the Blitz in World War II will make you ask the question, “Did MY parents murder someone with a cake knife? How much do I really know about my parent’s past?”
The Author's Website
The author's website.
- Kate MortonFor information on the author: back ground information, awards, bibliography, etc.