Helpful Score: 6
(music playing)....'Do you believe in magic........' This book is written on a young adult level. It never really goes anywhere, and when it does it is just unbelieveable in what happens. Looking for someone you knew 10 years ago??? Gasp, watch her walk by you on her way to church. Run out and hide deep in the sand dunes crying because your husband died last year and you miss him SOOO much? Here comes you childhood boyfriend who just "knew this is where you would be", sweeps you off the sand and tells you he "has always loved you", and you kiss him and YES YES you love him!!! The story is about a widow whose husbands body was found in a private plane with a woman unknown to be there. What follows could have been a very good story, but it was magically thrown together and everyone lives happily ever after. Maybe read it in the sun with a nice glass of whine!
Helpful Score: 5
Annabelle Murphy's husband Knox was presumed killed in a small plane crash, but his body was never found. Though their marriage was not perfect, it was happy and Annabelle and her children have learned to deal with the loss of a husband and father in their individual ways. Two years later Knox's plane and body is recovered along with the body of another woman, and Annabelle and her family are forced to reevaluate their relationships with Knox while looking for answers to the questions surrounding his death.
Annabelle's search for the other woman forces her to cross paths with Sofie Milstead, a young marine biologist who better relates to dolphins than to humans. Sofie has secrets of her own, which Annabelle must learn in order to unravel the mystery of her husband's secret life.
The Art of Keeping Secrets is a well-written story about family, friendship, and trust. The character of Sofie is particularly strong, and I wish that more of the chapters had been devoted to her. The end to me was ultimately unsatisfying, but that could be because I think would have felt differently in the end than Annabelle did. On the other hand, that means this is a good book: it gives you lots to think and talk about even when the story is finished.
Annabelle's search for the other woman forces her to cross paths with Sofie Milstead, a young marine biologist who better relates to dolphins than to humans. Sofie has secrets of her own, which Annabelle must learn in order to unravel the mystery of her husband's secret life.
The Art of Keeping Secrets is a well-written story about family, friendship, and trust. The character of Sofie is particularly strong, and I wish that more of the chapters had been devoted to her. The end to me was ultimately unsatisfying, but that could be because I think would have felt differently in the end than Annabelle did. On the other hand, that means this is a good book: it gives you lots to think and talk about even when the story is finished.
Helpful Score: 4
Patti Callahan Henry's writing just gets better and better. This one is a definite page turner that hooked me from the first page with its beautiful descriptions of the Lowcountry. Ms. Henry is a talented Southern writer in the tradition of Mary Alice Monroe, Dorothea Benton Frank and Anne Rivers Siddons.
Two years after Annabelle's husband dies in a plane crash, his body and that of a woman are found in the wreckage. With the help of her family and friends, Annabelle explores the reality of her marriage and looks for answers about the identity of the woman in the plane with her husband and why they were together. Annabelle wants an answer to her question - "What if everything she ever thought about her husband and her marriage were not true?".
This is a wonderful novel about love, loss, trust and forgiveness. Very satisfying read. I highly recommend.
Two years after Annabelle's husband dies in a plane crash, his body and that of a woman are found in the wreckage. With the help of her family and friends, Annabelle explores the reality of her marriage and looks for answers about the identity of the woman in the plane with her husband and why they were together. Annabelle wants an answer to her question - "What if everything she ever thought about her husband and her marriage were not true?".
This is a wonderful novel about love, loss, trust and forgiveness. Very satisfying read. I highly recommend.
Helpful Score: 1
I am a fan of Patti and have read almost everything of hers. This book strated out decent but quickly bogged down. For me there was too much time spent on the wife's life and her "poor me" thinking and not enough time on teh secret. Through the whole story there is this build up of why there was a woman on the plane with Know and who was she then towards the end it seems like the secret comes out in a rush because the author was running out of time. All in all this was an okay book but not a page turner.
