The Secrets She Keeps by Michael Robotham : All About Romance %

.tb-grid,.tb-grid>.block-editor-inner-blocks>.block-editor-block-list__layout{display:grid;grid-row-gap:25px;grid-column-gap:25px}.tb-grid-item{background:#d38a03;padding:30px}.tb-grid-column{flex-wrap:wrap}.tb-grid-column>*{width:100%}.tb-grid-column.tb-grid-align-top{width:100%;display:flex;align-content:flex-start}.tb-grid-column.tb-grid-align-center{width:100%;display:flex;align-content:center}.tb-grid-column.tb-grid-align-bottom{width:100%;display:flex;align-content:flex-end} .wpv-view-output[data-toolset-views-view-editor="8f26810f1279c3a475fb9ad827168038"] > .tb-grid-column:nth-of-type(4n + 1) { grid-column: 1 } .wpv-view-output[data-toolset-views-view-editor="8f26810f1279c3a475fb9ad827168038"] > .tb-grid-column:nth-of-type(4n + 2) { grid-column: 2 } .wpv-view-output[data-toolset-views-view-editor="8f26810f1279c3a475fb9ad827168038"] > .tb-grid-column:nth-of-type(4n + 3) { grid-column: 3 } .wpv-view-output[data-toolset-views-view-editor="8f26810f1279c3a475fb9ad827168038"] > .tb-grid-column:nth-of-type(4n + 4) { grid-column: 4 } .wpv-view-output[data-toolset-views-view-editor="8f26810f1279c3a475fb9ad827168038"] .js-wpv-loop-wrapper > .tb-grid { grid-template-columns: minmax(0, 0.25fr) minmax(0, 0.25fr) minmax(0, 0.25fr) minmax(0, 0.25fr);grid-auto-flow: row } .tb-field[data-toolset-blocks-field="2734e538da8fb1a12a46e40288cd7b6a"] { font-size: 18px;font-family: Merriweather;font-weight: regular; }  .tb-image{position:relative;transition:transform 0.25s ease}.wp-block-image .tb-image.aligncenter{margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto}.tb-image img{max-width:100%;height:auto;width:auto;transition:transform 0.25s ease}.tb-image .tb-image-caption-fit-to-image{display:table}.tb-image .tb-image-caption-fit-to-image .tb-image-caption{display:table-caption;caption-side:bottom} .wp-block-image.tb-image[data-toolset-blocks-image="b2362980ddba11246bc6ee4adddca31c"] { max-width: 100%; } .tb-fields-and-text[data-toolset-blocks-fields-and-text="a02b0aba212d72d24b0a26eb8a7b3fd0"] { font-family: Merriweather;font-weight: regular;font-size: 18px; } .tb-fields-and-text[data-toolset-blocks-fields-and-text="a02b0aba212d72d24b0a26eb8a7b3fd0"] p { font-size: 18px;font-family: Merriweather;font-weight: regular; } .tb-fields-and-text[data-toolset-blocks-fields-and-text="f735b20e200cf0f040ad6cd4f6ddef1d"] { font-family: Merriweather;font-weight: regular;font-size: 18px; } .tb-fields-and-text[data-toolset-blocks-fields-and-text="f735b20e200cf0f040ad6cd4f6ddef1d"] p { font-size: 18px;font-family: Merriweather;font-weight: regular; } .tb-fields-and-text[data-toolset-blocks-fields-and-text="93982a21600829ef6a8de3f293d5438d"] { font-family: Merriweather;font-weight: regular;font-size: 18px; } .tb-fields-and-text[data-toolset-blocks-fields-and-text="93982a21600829ef6a8de3f293d5438d"] p { font-size: 18px;font-family: Merriweather;font-weight: regular; } .tb-fields-and-text[data-toolset-blocks-fields-and-text="4091f3dafc79e9f7fda19e4e309bcc68"] { font-family: Merriweather;font-weight: regular;font-size: 18px; } .tb-fields-and-text[data-toolset-blocks-fields-and-text="4091f3dafc79e9f7fda19e4e309bcc68"] p { font-size: 18px;font-family: Merriweather;font-weight: regular; } .tb-fields-and-text[data-toolset-blocks-fields-and-text="904de023512c72674ce58abf06854968"] { font-family: Merriweather;font-weight: regular;font-size: 18px; } .tb-fields-and-text[data-toolset-blocks-fields-and-text="904de023512c72674ce58abf06854968"] p { font-size: 18px;font-family: Merriweather;font-weight: regular; } .tb-fields-and-text[data-toolset-blocks-fields-and-text="dc08e40f37a7d55836ba232b3aab9493"] { font-family: Merriweather;font-weight: regular;font-size: 18px;margin-top: 15px; } .tb-fields-and-text[data-toolset-blocks-fields-and-text="dc08e40f37a7d55836ba232b3aab9493"] p { font-size: 18px;font-family: Merriweather;font-weight: regular; }  .tb-field[data-toolset-blocks-field="57ca5aebcf6053de282599791aa74a4e"] { font-size: 44px;font-family: Merriweather;font-weight: bold;text-align: left;color: rgba( 6, 20, 50, 1 ); }  .tb-field[data-toolset-blocks-field="b73e2d7c34e1531ed86f58b7fd9acaed"] { font-size: 18px;font-family: Merriweather;font-weight: regular;text-align: left;color: rgba( 6, 20, 50, 1 ); }  .tb-field[data-toolset-blocks-field="b73e2d7c34e1531ed86f58b7fd9acaed"] a { color: rgba( 255, 255, 255, 1 ); } .tb-image{position:relative;transition:transform 0.25s ease}.wp-block-image .tb-image.aligncenter{margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto}.tb-image img{max-width:100%;height:auto;width:auto;transition:transform 0.25s ease}.tb-image .tb-image-caption-fit-to-image{display:table}.tb-image .tb-image-caption-fit-to-image .tb-image-caption{display:table-caption;caption-side:bottom} .wp-block-image.tb-image[data-toolset-blocks-image="f5aa9d0b14f53fb6ca178dc52fb40bee"] { width: 100%;max-width: 100%; } .wp-block-image.tb-image[data-toolset-blocks-image="f5aa9d0b14f53fb6ca178dc52fb40bee"] img { height: 300px; } @media only screen and (max-width: 781px) { .tb-grid,.tb-grid>.block-editor-inner-blocks>.block-editor-block-list__layout{display:grid;grid-row-gap:25px;grid-column-gap:25px}.tb-grid-item{background:#d38a03;padding:30px}.tb-grid-column{flex-wrap:wrap}.tb-grid-column>*{width:100%}.tb-grid-column.tb-grid-align-top{width:100%;display:flex;align-content:flex-start}.tb-grid-column.tb-grid-align-center{width:100%;display:flex;align-content:center}.tb-grid-column.tb-grid-align-bottom{width:100%;display:flex;align-content:flex-end} .wpv-view-output[data-toolset-views-view-editor="8f26810f1279c3a475fb9ad827168038"] > .tb-grid-column:nth-of-type(3n + 1) { grid-column: 1 } .wpv-view-output[data-toolset-views-view-editor="8f26810f1279c3a475fb9ad827168038"] > .tb-grid-column:nth-of-type(3n + 2) { grid-column: 2 } .wpv-view-output[data-toolset-views-view-editor="8f26810f1279c3a475fb9ad827168038"] > .tb-grid-column:nth-of-type(3n + 3) { grid-column: 3 } .wpv-view-output[data-toolset-views-view-editor="8f26810f1279c3a475fb9ad827168038"] .js-wpv-loop-wrapper > .tb-grid { grid-template-columns: minmax(0, 0.3333fr) minmax(0, 0.3333fr) minmax(0, 0.3333fr);grid-auto-flow: row }  .tb-image{position:relative;transition:transform 0.25s ease}.wp-block-image .tb-image.aligncenter{margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto}.tb-image img{max-width:100%;height:auto;width:auto;transition:transform 0.25s ease}.tb-image .tb-image-caption-fit-to-image{display:table}.tb-image .tb-image-caption-fit-to-image .tb-image-caption{display:table-caption;caption-side:bottom}   .tb-image{position:relative;transition:transform 0.25s ease}.wp-block-image .tb-image.aligncenter{margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto}.tb-image img{max-width:100%;height:auto;width:auto;transition:transform 0.25s ease}.tb-image .tb-image-caption-fit-to-image{display:table}.tb-image .tb-image-caption-fit-to-image .tb-image-caption{display:table-caption;caption-side:bottom} } @media only screen and (max-width: 599px) { .tb-grid,.tb-grid>.block-editor-inner-blocks>.block-editor-block-list__layout{display:grid;grid-row-gap:25px;grid-column-gap:25px}.tb-grid-item{background:#d38a03;padding:30px}.tb-grid-column{flex-wrap:wrap}.tb-grid-column>*{width:100%}.tb-grid-column.tb-grid-align-top{width:100%;display:flex;align-content:flex-start}.tb-grid-column.tb-grid-align-center{width:100%;display:flex;align-content:center}.tb-grid-column.tb-grid-align-bottom{width:100%;display:flex;align-content:flex-end} .wpv-view-output[data-toolset-views-view-editor="8f26810f1279c3a475fb9ad827168038"] > .tb-grid-column:nth-of-type(2n + 1) { grid-column: 1 } .wpv-view-output[data-toolset-views-view-editor="8f26810f1279c3a475fb9ad827168038"] > .tb-grid-column:nth-of-type(2n + 2) { grid-column: 2 } .wpv-view-output[data-toolset-views-view-editor="8f26810f1279c3a475fb9ad827168038"] .js-wpv-loop-wrapper > .tb-grid { grid-template-columns: minmax(0, 0.5fr) minmax(0, 0.5fr);grid-auto-flow: row } .tb-field[data-toolset-blocks-field="2734e538da8fb1a12a46e40288cd7b6a"] { font-size: 18px;font-family: Merriweather;font-weight: 300;text-align: center; }  .tb-image{position:relative;transition:transform 0.25s ease}.wp-block-image .tb-image.aligncenter{margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto}.tb-image img{max-width:100%;height:auto;width:auto;transition:transform 0.25s ease}.tb-image .tb-image-caption-fit-to-image{display:table}.tb-image .tb-image-caption-fit-to-image .tb-image-caption{display:table-caption;caption-side:bottom} .tb-field[data-toolset-blocks-field="57ca5aebcf6053de282599791aa74a4e"] { font-size: 24px;text-align: center; }   .tb-image{position:relative;transition:transform 0.25s ease}.wp-block-image .tb-image.aligncenter{margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto}.tb-image img{max-width:100%;height:auto;width:auto;transition:transform 0.25s ease}.tb-image .tb-image-caption-fit-to-image{display:table}.tb-image .tb-image-caption-fit-to-image .tb-image-caption{display:table-caption;caption-side:bottom} .wp-block-image.tb-image[data-toolset-blocks-image="f5aa9d0b14f53fb6ca178dc52fb40bee"] { width: 100%;max-width: 100%; } .wp-block-image.tb-image[data-toolset-blocks-image="f5aa9d0b14f53fb6ca178dc52fb40bee"] img { height: 300px; }  } 

Suspense

The Secrets She Keeps

By Michael Robotham

Buy on Amazon

TEST

I love a great mystery/thriller and when I need a break from romance (not often!), it’s my go to genre – especially if it’s a book by Michael Robotham. I binged his books a few years ago and I spent a summer engrossed in his addictive Joseph O’Laughlin series, so when I heard he had a new standalone novel coming out, I was eager to read it. But this book, though marketed as a suspense thriller, isn’t quite what I expected. Yes, it’s suspenseful, but it’s also is a deeply moving, creepy and dark character study of two women, the secrets they keep and the repercussions of those secrets. Mr. Robotham explores the dichotomy between perception and reality, and how desire for the ‘perfect family’ can drive a woman to desperation. In parallel narratives (and dual PoVs) we get to know two vastly different women: Agatha, unmarried and pregnant, who works part-time stocking shelves at a grocery; and Meghan, a married, pregnant mother of two, who writes a popular parenting blog. The Secret She Keeps unfolds as their lives disastrously intersect and their secrets – oh so many secrets – are revealed. We know whodunit fairly early on, but – does guilt make you a bad person? Well, that’s a much trickier question.

The Secret She Keeps opens when Agatha spots Meghan Shaughnessy outside the grocery in the ritzy suburb where she works. Agatha watches for super chic Meghan everyday – as she joins her girlfriends at the nearby coffee shop, running errands in town, escorting her children to and from school… and fantasizes about Meghan’s perfect life and husband. She imagines striking up a conversation with Meghan, discussing their pregnancies (she read about Meg’s surprise third baby on her blog, which she checks everyday) and husbands (she’ll have one soon, too). Agatha spends a good part of every day deluding herself about the great friendship they’ll one day have, but for now, Agatha works for a grocery store owner who resents her pregnancy and makes it clear he won’t do anything to accommodate her schedule once she has the baby, her boyfriend, a sailor, is at sea on deployment, unaware she’s pregnant, and her life is lonely. But Agatha just knows marriage, the baby, and her friendship with Meghan will change everything. She’ll finally have the life she deserves.

Meg has it all: a handsome, funny husband who’s a bit of a celebrity as the local sports commentator, two wonderful children, a home in an exclusive neighborhood and a popular parenting blog. Life is good. Except, sometimes she thinks all the things she’s acquired in pursuit of the perfect life haven’t really made her any happier. And baby number three – their ‘oops’ baby? She’s excited about having another boy, but even though Jack swears he doesn’t blame her for getting pregnant again, their relationship just hasn’t been the same. He’s tense, she’s anxious, and lately, though she loves him, she isn’t sure she likes him. Meg’s started to tire of the gossipy group of girlfriends she meets for coffee, she isn’t getting enough sleep, and everything just seems harder than it used to be. Her idyllic, perfect life seems so far away these days… hopefully everything will be better after the baby is born.

As the story progresses, Agatha secretly stalks Meg, imagining her perfect life, while in reality, Meg struggles to find happiness in her marriage and in the life she’s created. Bit by bit, Mr. Robotham parcels out additional details about each of the women, and although their lives and experiences up until now have been tremendously different, he slowly reveals how the past and the secrets – deep, dark secrets – they’ve each been keeping seem somehow destined to affect their future. There’s a pervasive sense that something bad is just around the corner, but it’s difficult to see where Mr. Robotham is leading us. That is, until the story goes where you hoped it wouldn’t – Meg and Agatha finally (inevitably) meet. Meg is in her local grocery store, shopping, and strikes up a conversation with one of the employees. It’s Agatha, who can’t believe she’s finally speaking to Meg. The conversation turns to their mutual pregnancies, and after exchanging due dates and commiserating over aches and pains, Meg invites Agatha to a yoga class. Against the odds, the two develop a casual friendship.

Things seem to be going well until Agatha learns a secret – related to Meg – and acts on it. Her intervention and justification – she was just protecting Meg – sets off a chain reaction with repercussions through the second half of the book. Her actions make it disturbingly clear that Agatha is desperate and willing to do anything to create the perfect family of her dreams, one just like Meg Shaughnessy’s. Meanwhile, Meg is quietly flailing. She made a mistake, a big mistake that could ruin her perfect family, and she can’t see her way through it. But before it can come to light, she gives birth to a baby boy, and then other events supersede its disclosure. For a good portion of the novel, the author feeds us within seemingly random bits about the women’s lives, but once Meghan and Agatha become friends, all those little crumbs coalesce into the marvelously intricate, heart pounding second half.

It’s clear from the first few pages that Agatha’s obsessive and adoring focus on Meg, and her seeming disassociation from the reality of her own life, signals something isn’t quite right with her. But Mr. Robotham complicates our feelings about this character. Agatha’s past – a painful, traumatic childhood, failed relationships, loss – speak to the woman she is now, and make her an extremely sympathetic character despite her flaws. They’re legion – but I empathized with her anyway. Meanwhile, Meg’s suffering is juxtaposed against the awful secret she keeps and how desperately she clings to keeping up appearances… and I struggled to sympathize with her. Oh, Mr. Robotham. You sly devil! I know I have that all backwards. Right? Who’s the victim here? Secondary characters play pivotal roles moving the narrative forward, and they’re similarly well developed – complex, conflicted and again, it’s challenging to label them as either good or bad.

Lies, secrets, the past – they all come to the fore as the author masterfully spins the seemingly innocent friendship between Agatha and Meg into a complex and chilling suspense thriller that confounds reader expectations. In The Secrets She Keeps, it gets harder and harder to decide who’s good, who’s bad, and how the hell we should feel about it. Michael Robotham does a masterful job confounding my expectations about how I felt vs. how I thought I should feel. Frustrated, angry, sad… my emotions ran the gamut, and I’m still not sure how I feel about either woman now that I’ve finished the book. The Secrets She Keeps is a fascinating – surprisingly moving – psychological thriller. Darkly disturbing, it will stay with you long after it ends.