Not Logged in.
Book Jacket

The Secret Keeper


"An intriguing mystery, shifting between past and present." - People, 4 stars
More about this book
Author Biography

What elements of the Gothic novel do you see in The Secret Keeper?

Created: 07/09/13

Replies: 7

Posted Jul. 09, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
davinamw

Join Date: 10/15/10

Posts: 3442

What elements of the Gothic novel do you see in The Secret Keeper?

Kate Morton says that her books are similar to Victorian gothic novels such as Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. What elements of the Gothic novel do you see in The Secret Keeper? In what ways does she depart from this form?


Posted Jul. 14, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
rebeccar

Join Date: 03/13/12

Posts: 548

RE: What elements of the Gothic novel do you see in The Secret Keeper?

Right off the bat, we have the remote home with secrets. There is also a sense of a controlling prophecy with the greeting of 'it's been a long time" by the mysterious visitor that that is immediately murdered by the mother. So there is that sense of a threatening, controlling male, and then later in the story there are the revealing details of the physically abusive husband.


Posted Jul. 14, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
dianac

Join Date: 04/02/13

Posts: 91

RE: What elements of the Gothic novel do you see in The Secret Keeper?

It was not a mix of mystery and horror in my opinion. I would not characterize this book as a gothic novel.


Posted Jul. 15, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
sandrah

Join Date: 07/18/11

Posts: 68

RE: What elements of the Gothic novel do you see in The Secret Keeper?

I don't see this as a gothic novel. It has mystery but is not mysterious; terror but not that caused by the mysterious or psychological; nothing supernatural, death but not the kind caused by mysterious circumstances, doubles but not the kind that normally figure in a true gothic sense.

When I think of contemporary gothic novels I thinks of Diane Satterfield's "13th Tale," Shirley Jackson's " We Have Always Lived in the Castle," Daphne DuMaurier's "Rebecca," and Carlos Ruiz Zafon's " Shadow in the Wind."


Posted Jul. 15, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
jeannew

Join Date: 04/23/11

Posts: 118

RE: What elements of the Gothic novel do you see in The Secret Keeper?

I tend to think of gothic novels as trauma upon trauma piling on the lead character, i.e. Jane Eyre. I was just sure that Jimmy would prove to be a bad guy who would somehow ruin Dolly's life. But he was such a good guy that it threw me off. And so many of the things that happened to Dolly were of her own creation and that didn't fit for me either. So the only really Gothic elements I saw were both Dolly and Vivien being cruelly stripped of their families and left alone in the world.


Posted Jul. 17, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
christinep

Join Date: 07/16/13

Posts: 45

RE: What elements of the Gothic novel do you see in The Secret Keeper?

Its all the secrets that make this a Gothic novel and the way they are revealed.


Posted Jul. 29, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
amyf

Join Date: 10/18/12

Posts: 10

RE: What elements of the Gothic novel do you see in The Secret Keeper?

I definitely thought that this book had gothic elements. The secrets and the way the answers were revealed as well as the "surprise" ending.


Posted Jul. 29, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
dorothyt

Join Date: 04/10/11

Posts: 102

RE: What elements of the Gothic novel do you see in The Secret Keeper?

I see elements of gothic novels in Kate Morton's work, but less so in this one. All the mystery and plot turns are the appeal.


Reply

Please login to post a response.