The Secret Keeper

The first chapter sets up the inciting incident around which the story in the 2011 timeline will revolve—the murder of Henry Jenkins by Dorothy Nicolson. The shocking nature of the murder goes against Dorothy’s character as presented by her children. Laurel sees her mother as fanciful, loving, wholly committed to her family, and invested in creating a cozy home. For Laurel, who is restless and dreams of moving to London, the incident serves as a pivotal coming-of-age moment, pushing her toward independence, breaking away from her family and pursuing her dream of becoming an actress in London. Only her mother, father, and brother, Gerry, know something happened that night in 1961; her sisters are unaware. The possession of a secret and the revelation of her mother as human and fallible with an unknown past, catalyzes Laurel’s own journey to adulthood.

Laurel’s eagerness to leave home parallels the same restlessness felt by Dolly Smitham, introducing the theme of Leaving Home and Becoming Oneself. Dolly, who has always felt less a part of her family than Laurel does and eventually loses them to the bombings, is attempting to wrestle into being the life she wants, by any means necessary. Dolly’s fantasy that she was stolen from her real family by her staid, proper parents reflects the grandiose imagination that will emerge as characteristic of Dolly’s nature—fantasies that protect her from feelings of inadequacy, loss, and grief. Laurel benefits from the privilege of leaving home and still having a loving family to come back to, giving her a firm foundation from which to pursue her dreams. The novel suggests that Vivien/Dorothy’s true legacy is creating a life for her children that she herself was denied—providing a foundation of support not only not only her own family (Laurel ultimately becomes known and admired for the characters she creates and inhabits as an actress), but for Jimmy’s family as well. The recognition of Laurel by the boy who calls her “daddy’s lady” sets up the connection to the Campden Grove family that Laurel, and the reader, will not discover until Part 4.

As teenagers, both Laurel and Dolly use romantic infatuation as a springboard to their personal independence and autonomy. Dolly’s relationship with Jimmy, like Laurel’s crush on Billy, is what pushes her to leave home. This idea of instant attraction also occurs between other couples in the book, serving as a motif in the story, suggesting that this kind of infatuation is characteristic of young people coming of age and looking to establish their own lives apart from their families of origin, whether by necessity like Vivien, hope like Laurel, or a kind of insatiable ambition like Dolly. Dolly, who spots Jimmy in Coventry, is drawn to him immediately and sees in him a path toward what she most wants—a new life. Although Laurel’s infatuation in Chapter 1 is strong, Billy is forgotten almost immediately, suggesting that the real pull for her is her dreams of becoming an actress.

The dual-timeline structure that Morton employs in The Secret Keeper as well as the various point-of-view characters allows her to reveal the details of the mystery incrementally over the course of the story, building suspense and a sense of narrative propulsion in the plot. Opening with the interaction between Dolly and Vivien in the boardinghouse without revealing context sets up the mystery at the heart of the novel, giving readers a taste of what needs to be uncovered. The mystery structure allows Morton to use plot details as red herrings, keeping the audience guessing about the characters connections to each other. In a first reading, it appears that Vivien and Dolly are good friends and that Dolly is suffering the consequences of a plan gone awry. It will only become apparent later that Morton has established a key distinction in her characters’ names: the girl who grew up in Coventry and wanted to marry Jimmy Metcalfe she refers to as Dolly. Laurel’s mother is referred to as Dorothy. In scenes like Dorothy’s birthday party, where she reflects with gratitude on second chances, Morton steers the reader toward believing that Dolly, with Vivien’s help, got a second chance on that night in May 1941 and went on to become Dorothy Nicolson. But she also plants the mystery of why Dorothy didn’t marry Jimmy, especially when Dorothy asks if he’s been visiting the hospital.

Morton plants other small red herrings that, on a first reading, lead the reader to connect Dolly Smitham and Dorothy Nicolson. The album Laurel uses to reminisce about her mother’s life only begins in 1944. Of her mother’s life before that, Laurel knows only that her family died when Coventry was bombed in the Blitz (a detail connected to Dolly’s life rather than Vivien’s). The book Peter Pan with its inscription from Vivien to Dorothy reinforces the idea of Laurel’s mother as Dolly. Allusions to various works of children’s literature throughout the story underscore the kinds of imaginative stories that Laurel remembers her mother telling her, like the story about how Dorothy was once a crocodile. Her mother’s imagination parallels Dolly and her fantasies, but more than just a fanciful tale, the crocodile story reinforces Laurel’s conclusion that Dolly Smitham underwent some sort of transformation that turned her into a doting wife and mother.

At the same time, Morton also plants small clues that resonate once the final twist is revealed. Most tellingly, when Laurel hears the name Vivien, she becomes convinced that Vivien is key to her mother’s secret. Morton also plants the answer to the question of how Henry Jenkins found Dorothy in 1961. Instead of saving that information for the end, Morton includes it early, having Laurel make the connection that Jenkins saw Dorothy’s picture in the paper with the story about her prize-winning beans. Thus the real question becomes not how Henry found her, but why he was looking.

Photographs serve as an additional motif in the story, providing clues that facilitate the mystery. The most important, in this section, is the photograph Laurel finds that she believes is of her mother and Vivien. Jimmy takes a photograph of Dolly at the seaside, which comes to represent the future he hopes to build with her. His keeping and dwelling on this photograph signify his attachment as well as his loyalty. A strong element of Jimmy’s character is his dedication to the people he cares about and his commitment to his promises.

Morton’s prose style is not overly ornamented, but it is lush with detail and imagery that brings scenes to life. A particular skill of Morton’s is weaving backstory and flashback into a scene in a way that gives a character depth. She adds small but memorable details that give texture to a setting, and she skillfully manages information to create tension and suspense.