Book Review: The Secret Keeper’s Daughter by Samantha King
Rating: ★★★
In Summary
Genre: Psychological thriller
Publication Date: 10th September 2021
No. Of Pages: 416
Keywords: Domestic, psychological, mystery, motherhood, family, childhood, secrecy, twisty, claustrophobic
Content Warnings: Reference to abortion, terminal illness, death of a loved one, suicide, adultery
Format: E-Book, Audiobook (released 17th September 2021), Paperback (released 30th December 2021)
Review
When I read the first couple of chapters of The Secret Keeper’s Daughter, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it takes place in Thorpeness, an idyllic location I visited on holiday earlier in the year. This small seaside village makes for an atmospheric setting that adds to the novel’s sense of claustrophobia.
It took a while for me to get used to the second-person narrative, in which the narrator Holly addresses her young daughter, seeking to explain the events of the last seven days and the fallout of the secrets revealed.
This unusual narrative style certainly made for an unsettling atmosphere - in their naive perceptiveness, children always increase the creep factor! Plus the countdown over seven days to an unknown catastrophe makes for a slow, foreboding build-up of suspense.
Around the halfway point, the story became a lot pacier and the revelations just kept on coming! Before this acceleration, though, I found the book too slow for a thriller.
When it comes to psychological thrillers, I want to be instantly gripped, thinking about it when I’m not reading it, feeling driven to pick it up again whenever I have a spare moment. The Secret Keeper’s Daughter lacked that spark of excitement for me in the early chapters.
The ending felt a little chaotic too. Several plotlines were built up to a tense climax only to fizzle out halfheartedly, which detracted from the ‘oomph’ of the big reveals.
Ultimately, it was the characters that kept me intrigued more than the plot, especially the relationship between sort-of sisters Holly and Amy. The author has mastered the art of tense dialogue, exploiting the layers of the unspoken that can lurk beneath our most everyday conservations.
The Round Up
Standout Quote: “The past lives inside of us. Like a cancer. Dormant. Possibly benign. Definitely incurable. We can’t get rid of it, even if we want to.”
Read If: You enjoy psychological thrillers that bring out the dark side of domesticity, family, and motherhood.
Similar Books: The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell, The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel, The Girlfriend by Michelle Frances and Her Name Was Rose by Claire Allan (check out Jasmine’s review here!).
Last Impressions: While The Secret Keeper’s Daughter may not have quite delivered the unrelenting plot that I look for in a thriller, I would definitely recommend it for those who like more character-driven narratives that slowly build tension and suspicion.
Where to buy: Amazon, The Bookshop, Waterstones
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Written by Florence Edwards
