Girl Power

How To Keep A Secret by Sarah Morgan is a powerful contemporary family read. It is entertaining whilst imparting life lessons to us all.

The novel is about family and parenthood. Both are important. Both are complicated and messy. Both are needed to get through life. Not everyone is fortunate to have a good family. Family bonds are strong. Time has a way of cementing the bonds.

There are different dynamics portrayed within the family. I loved the bond of sisters.

Secrets are corrosive. Sooner or later they leak out. They are a burden that needs to be released. “Shedding secrets had lightened the load.” Secrets can become barriers between people. “Secrets are like walls. They stop you getting close.”

There is the theme of transparency. We need to be true to ourselves and to others. “She had reinvented herself so many times in an attempt to be popular that she no longer knew who she was.” The pressure to conform in our society is huge, especially amongst teens.

Loss permeates the whole story. People die, leaving messes behind. The grieving feel guilt, anger and powerlessness. Life is unresolved but it is what it is.

Do we ever forget our first love? The novel explores this.

We all have troubles that consume us. We need good friends or family to lighten the load.

There are various relationships between the women of the novel portrayed. Three generations of the same family interact showing that a cord of four strands is rarely broken, no matter what life throws at you.

How To Keep A Secret is a departure from the usual style of Sarah Morgan but I loved it. The book went deeper than her normal light hearted reads and it consumed me. I ‘lived’ the action. It is a book that stands alone – but, any time you fancy writing a sequel, Sarah Morgan, I would love to read it. I want to find out what happens to my new found ‘friends’.

I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

JULIA WILSON