The Secret Keeper

In the English countryside, sixteen-year-old Laurel Nicolson has fled to her childhood tree house during a summer party and is contentedly daydreaming about the future. She observes her mother conversing with a stranger that she sees approaching the property via the lengthy drive. Before the day is over, Laurel is going to see something surprising happen. A crime that casts doubt on all she has ever known about her family, particularly Dorothy, her vibrant, devoted, and almost flawless mother.

Fifty years later, Laurel is a well-known and prosperous actress who lives in London. On the occasion of Dorothy's ninetieth birthday, the family is gathered at Greenacres Farm. Laurel looks for answers to the problems that have been bothering her since that long ago day, answers that can only be found in Dorothy's history, realising that this could be her only opportunity.

The reader travels with Dorothy through pre-World War II England, the Blitz, the 1960s, and beyond. It is the hidden past of Dorothy, Vivien, and Jimmy—three strangers from very different worlds whose paths happen to cross in wartime London and whose lives become irrevocably linked. The Secret Keeper examines desires and aspirations, as well as the sometimes unanticipated outcomes they may have. In the incomparable language of Morton, this tale of lovers, friends, deceit, and desire is set against the background of world-changing events.