Comment

Sep 13, 2014SuzeParker rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
In 1961, 16-year-old Laurel witnesses a shocking murder, perpetrated by her beautiful and loving mother, Dorothy. Laurel has never understood what might have caused her mother’s uncharacteristic actions. The secret remains buried until 2011, when Laurel, now a famous character actress, comes back to her childhood home to visit her mother, who is aged and dying. Confronted with the possibility of never understanding why the murder occurred, Laurel begins trying to piece together her mother’s past. The reader is treated to more of the back story than Laurel will be able to find, and here we meet Dorothy, Vivien and Jimmy, whose lives become entwined in dramatic and unexpected fashion during 1941, when London is under siege. Jumping between 1961, 1941 and 2011, Kate Morton pulls all the threads together in a very surprising twist at the end. As with Morton’s other books, I felt that the story could have been just as strong with a bit less detail. But that’s a minor complaint about a very good book.