The Secrets She Keeps by Michael Robotham is a gut wrenching bang up novel told from the view point of two “pregnant” women. The suspense builds as each chapter wraps its head around these fully developed women with brave flaws. It is rare to have such an immensely satisfying, cathartic and brilliant ending within this thriller genre. Hats off to this Australian author. ( )

This was extremely good! Michael Robotham knows how to write psychological thrillers! Sure there are plenty of unexpected twists and turns, but what makes this one fantastic is the depth of the story. He takes the reader to such unexpected levels. He makes you feel for every character, regardless of their poor decisions. The ending is a bit of a mind bender and allows for reader interpretation.

Meghan, is a married pregnant mom of two, who appears to have it all. Agatha, is an unmarried pregnant woman working in a grocery store. Agatha sees Meghan daily and becomes overly curious about Meghan’s life. One day they finally strike up a conversation. The only thing expected from this story is that no one lives the life we imagine for them. ( )

Agatha is a single woman working in a dead-end cleaning job in a supermarket. She is envious of Meaghan, who seems to have it all: nice house, a famous handsome husband, beautiful children, and another on the way. The two women meet in pre-natal class and strike up an acquaintanceship.

Each of these women is nursing a terrible secret that could shatter their lives and leave them in ruins. As Robotham develops their parallel stories, they both become more entangled and engulfed by the lies and pretences that they have been forced to adopt, until one of them takes a step so drastic that everything is brought undone.

It's almost impossible to review this book without giving too much away, so all I can say is that I found it a riveting page-turner and can recommend it to anybody keen on this genre. ( )

Followers of my blog will know that this is one of my favourite Australian authors and that I have read this novel before.

I am reviewing it a second time, because I am re-reading it with a U3A Crime Fiction group. For some of them this is the first time they have read a book by this author.

So here I want to come up with some pointers for our discussion. However I think it is also important that the readers of this blog don't come across any spoilers, although of course in our face to face discussion we will be working on the assumption that all participants have read the novel

Here are some of my pointers

the dual narrators: Agatha and Meghan. We are told who the narrator is at the beginning of every chapter, but did you eventually get to the stage where you knew who the narrator was? What helped you get to this point?
Why does Agatha see Meghan as a model for her own life? What do they have in common? Where do they differ?
How does Agatha stalk/watch Meghan and Jack? Why does she do this?
What do we learn about Agatha's life history?
What secrets do Agatha and Meghan have?
What actions has Agatha taken in her efforts to become a mother?
How has Agatha become a killer?
This novel marks the first appearance of Cyrus Haven, a police profiler who will later appear in his own series
1. Good Girl, Bad Girl (2019)
2. When She Was Good (2020)
3. Lying Beside You (2022)
The BBC TV series: In 2020 the novel became the basis of a 6 episode tv series that, apart from being set in Australia, stayed fairly close plot-wise to the original book. However a second 6 part series screening in 2022 goes well beyond the original book ( )

My emotions were a whirl with this well thought out book.
 
Though it was a bit length for the genre, this was a really quick read because of how gripping the plot was. I felt a real connection to both of the characters and emphasized with the way each of them felt. I became quite invested in the fate of all involved.
 
The entire concept was incredibly well plotted and thought through. This was reflected in Agatha's character--she was precise and methodical. Meg had more going on than seemed on surface level which helped me to become quickly invested. I loved the details Robotham included and how they all tied together. The policework involved was also quite intriguing to read about.
 
At the beginning, Agatha gave me the creeps, but flashbacks and pointed details really drew me to her and by the end, though I also wanted to shake some sense into her, I wanted to see her growing up a bit and being happy.
 
The ending had a few surprises, including a relationship that I hadn't quite seen developing and a very solid finale. This was a rare book where the ending was quite satisfying in that I didn't want to read more about the characters because I knew enough to safely envision the rest of their lives.
 
Though this book wasn't outstanding, it was enjoyable and very easy to get lost in.
 
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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