A Secret Kept by Tatiana de Rosnay

NOTE: November is National Reading Month here in the Philippines; and in order to commemorate this great and enjoyable past time, I've decided to showcase book reviews, and other related items, this whole month.  We'll return to my regular hodge podge of post-able topics after.  So sit back, relax, and let the reviews begin!  J


In A Secret Kept, Antoine Rey, a divorcee with kids, plans a special birthday surprise for his sister Melanie -- a trip to an old resort they used to frequent when they were children.  Everything goes well, until during the drive home, Melanie suddenly remembers a disturbing incident that she witnessed the last time they were at the resort (the last time they were there before their mother's untimely death).  A memory so surprising, she loses control of the car and they meet an accident on the road.

While recovering, Antoine tries to piece together the events of their childhood, trying to solve the mystery of their mother while at the same time, he questions his life and whether he really knows and understands the people in his life.  (Read the full summary at Amazon.com)

SOURCE: Amazon.com

I'm a fan of Tatiana de Rosnay.  In fact, her earlier book, Sarah's Key, is one of my favorite novels.  So as expected, I've had high expectations for this one.

But alas, it was not meant to be.  The main reason for my buying the book was because I wanted to learn more about Antoine Rey's mother's secret (she sounded much more interesting, in my opinion).  And although there were certain areas that were told in his mother's POV, it was still not enough for me.  I felt like I was bombarded with the Antoine's insecurities and personal doubts more.  It became a little boring after a while.

And the story of how the mother died?  I'm actually not so sure what to make of it.  In fact, I'm still trying to understand if her death was accidental or not.  I guess I'll never know.

My verdict?  I still like Sarah's Key better.