Book Summary and Reviews of The Secrets She Keeps by Michael Robotham

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Diane S.

The Secrets she keeps
Two young women, pregnant at the same time but a huge difference in their personal lives. Meghan appears to have it all, a loving husband, two small children. Agatha sees her from afar, envies her life because the father of her baby doesn't want to be involved and is now serving in the military. At this point I was thinking I knew exactly where this was going, a common enough theme, predictable, but in this authors capable hands though some of what I thought would happen did, the way it happens is more than just predictable.

I have read this author for quite a long time and I love the way he portrays his characters. They are multifaceted and one can tell that he cares for them. In this one he turns things topsy turvy because the one i should feel sympathetic for is not the one I did. Like a hat trick, he shows people are not ever one thing and that looks and thoughts can be deceiving. What one understand on the surface may not be all of it, always their is more to the story. Takes real talent to do this and this author it in spades.

Cloggie Downunder

a cleverly constructed psychological thriller
The Secrets She Keeps is the fourth stand-alone novel by Australian author, Michael Robotham. Two women from different backgrounds find they have something in common: they are to give birth in a few weeks. For ex-journalist and mummy-blogger Meghan Shaughnessy, it will be her third, and this one is unplanned. Supermarket employee Agatha Fyfle tells Meg it’s her first. Neither, however, is being completely honest, and with good reasons. Meg carries an overwhelming guilt about the baby’s conception; Agatha’s reasons are much darker.

Robotham uses a dual narrative to tell the tale. It soon becomes apparent that Agatha is an unreliable narrator whose her awful childhood is meant to mitigate her actions as an adult, although some of those affected have difficulty seeing it this way. Meg’s emotions are more relatable and certainly her anguish is well-conveyed.

Everyone involved has secrets that hide their very human flaws, not the least of which is self-interest, but as the story races towards the nail-biting conclusion, the behaviour of some characters will surprise the reader. Within the framework of a cleverly constructed psychological thriller, Robotham manages to incorporate child abduction, adultery, child sexual assault and murder. Definitely a page-turner.

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