A Secret Kept: A Novel

I had no familiarity with Tatiana de Rosnay's writing, and hadn't read her previous (highly acclaimed) Sarah's Key. So I began listening with no preconceptions.

7 CD's and 9 hours listening time later, I was left with a sense that the family secret at the heart of this story was one that was not worth keeping. (You know the feeling--you invest much time reading a book--or listening--and the ending is disappointing.)

While I did enjoy the descriptive passages (I enjoy any story set in France), the slow-moving examination of the lives of two siblings became tedious. In particular, brother Antoine was more self-pitying than introspective.

Still, I am giving the audio book four stars, because the author did a good job of exploring how complex family relationships can be, and how we all, in some way, keep secrets.

(Note: I've deliberately left out a detailed plot synopsis and character studies because many other reviewers have already covered those points.)

It pains me to leave this review. No mellodrama or over-stating occuring here. It literally pains me. I enjoyed Sarah's Key so much that I read it in a day, then littered cyberspace with my positive reviews and encouraged all of my friends to read it. When I found out the author had published another book, I ordered it, then cleared my schedule, poured a glass of wine, and settled in.

Honestly, I could not make it beyond the third disk. This book felt as pointless Paris Hilton or a sixth toe or ... you get the idea.

I am sorry to say, for the first time ever, I can't leave a thorough review. I just did not care about Antoine or his sister, Melanie. I felt the author tried to lure readers in by making everything super suspenseful and uber dramatic, but I just found myself yawning and thinking, "Who cares?"

Here's what Publisher's Weekly writes:

"Upon returning, Mélanie is gripped by a shocking repressed memory and loses control of the car. After a brief spell of amnesia, she tells her brother what it was she remembered: their mother had been in love with a woman. As a skeptical Antoine investigates this twist in their mother's past, an upsetting chain of events unfurls: his daughter's best friend drops dead of a heart condition at only 14 years of age; his teenage son is arrested; and he learns that his father is dying of cancer."

So we have a car accident, amnesia, lesbianism, adultery, the tragic, unexpected death of a teenager, a brush with the law, and cancer.

What more can de Rosnay throw at her readers in one book? The kitchen sink? A two-headed vampire baby (that would go with the current ridiculous trend in mass market media - vampire stories that have over-saturated the market)?

Disappointed. Sadly, disappointed.

Just wanted to say I really enjoyed the 7 disc unabridged audiobook version. Since others have given the plotline I won't disclose it here other than to say that I found it kept my interest through four sittings to complete the 7 discs. Simon Vance, the narrator seems to do a fairly good job with not only his reading of the book but also the various characters although I couldn't tell if his pronounceation of french was accurate in several parts of the book as I don't understand french. The audiobook is packaged well with the cardboard sleeve booklet fitting just fine in the thinner cardboard outer case. I did notice some minor disc scratching from the pages of the cardboard sleeve but playback of the discs was not affected in any way.

To sum up, none of the book offended me & I plan to share this audiobook by lending it out to friends that I hope will like it too.

[Note: This review is from the audiobook.]

The "secret" in the title causes an accident when protagonist Antoine Rey's sister is driving after he has surprised her with a birthday trip to a spot of childhood happiness. She loses control of the car they are in and ends up in the hospital, where she now has amnesia and cannot recall the secret she was about to reveal about her mother. Antoine, struggling to deal with the death of his mother some time earlier, his tense relationship with his father, his divorce, the aloofness of his children, and, now, his sister's near death, sort of meanders through the first half of the book, not knowing quite what to do with whom. Along the way, he meets Angèle, a mortician who becomes his lover and perhaps the sole vital part of his life.

"A Secret Kept" is told in the first person (and read superbly by Simon Vance on the audiobook), and Antoine does not hold back on his feelings, which are generally scattered. Here, I think author [[ASIN:0312370849 Tatiana de Rosnay]] does a superb job of capturing the uncertainty, the fears, and all the other emotions of a middle-aged man finding the world a very uncertain place. The first third of the book might be somewhat slow going, especially when it becomes apparent that the "secret" is not going to be immediately forthcoming and really does not even drive the action, but after that, the precisely limned characters drew me in.

Tatiana de Rosnay's A Secret Kept is a great choice. Parisian, divorcee, and architect Antoine Rey treats his sister to a surprise vacation to attempt to capture some of their golden days of youth. The trip is quickly derailed with his sister's revelation of a forgotten memory causes an accident. Searching for answers to who his mother really was, he uncovers a lot more.

I ended up loving this chic subtle novel that underscores the importance of family and explores modern relationships. DeRosnay manages to unravel a secret that has present day consequences and stays away from soapy plot twists. This leisurely story does take awhile top hook a reader, but it eventually does mostly through its smart characterization and surprisingly sexy tone.

The Audiobook version narrated by Simon Vance in an unnervingly sensual tone is a treat.

Who does not dream of getting comfortable and having someone tell them a story? The best part of this CD set was Simon Vance's narration.

This was my introduction to Tatiana de Rosnay. Her characters are convincing and believable, particularly Antoine the narrator. He is a forty-something divorced dad still in love with his ex-wife, estranged from his father, unhappy in his job. The basic ingredients of a good story are here. However, I have the feeling that reading the book might have been slow going at times. Having it read to me as I knitted - pure bliss. Simon Vance does a good job with the various voices, even the female voices. They suggest the characters but are not caricaturish. He has a nice deep voice and an appealing British accent. It was actually the best experience with an audio book that I have ever had.

The story itself is basically a portrait of a man in full midlife crisis. He is Everyman and somehow very French at the same time. The family secret at the center of the plot feels a tiny bit contrived. Even though it is such a key plot point, I feel like there is a book here without it.

I recommend the audio version of the book.

Like her strong story, "Sarah's Key", Tatiana de Rosnay's "A Secret Kept" hinges on a long kept family secret. The secret surrounds the death of Antonie and Melanie Rey's mother's death, some 30 years earlier than the story begins. Melanie's recovered memories of the incident lead to a car crash, with only Antoine continuing to try and dig up the past to learn the real truth of their mother's death.

Antoine is a less than likeable character, and you find yourself not really drawn to his story. He's whiny and self-absorbed, and the liaison he forms with a woman in the story is pretentious. In the audiobook, narrator Simon Vance does a fairly good job with the material, but, since Antoine is French, and Vance has a British accent, it seems an imperfect fit.

Hard to finish.

Antoine Rey is an architect living in Paris after a recent divorce. He decides to take his sister on a trip to the island they visited as children for her birthday. While on the island, Rey's sister remembers something she witnessed as a child and, in the process of telling her brother about it, is so agitated that she wrecks the car and is seriously injured. One result of the accident is that she forgets what she was about to tell her brother, and this bothers Antoine, who wants to know what was so shocking that it caused his sister to lose control of the car. Another result is that Antoine meets Angel, a mortician working in the hospital where his sister is brought after her accident. Angel teaches him how to live and how to respect death.

Throughout the book, Antoine experiences several events that change his perspective on life, family, love, and death. He discovers secrets from the past that change his relationships in the present. I enjoyed this audio book!

In "A Secret Kept," author Tatiana de Rosnay ([[ASIN:0312370849 Sarah's Key]]) explores the love of a son for his mother and the damage that misunderstood adult acts, long past, can have on the psyche of a child and the man he becomes. In prose that reads like poetic mind whispers and an adroit ability to relate her story in a feasible masculine first person voice, she conveys the ebb and flow of one middle-age man's life as he questions his existence and future with regard to the relationships he holds most dear. An introspective tale with little action, "A Secret Kept" may not have the punch one has come to expect from de Rosnay after her bestselling American debut in the Holocaust-themed "Sarah's Key," yet it sings with a quiet wisdom that in unabridged audio book format provides a pleasant listening experience.

Perhaps the mystery once revealed does not shock as, at one time, it would have in a world less exposed to what then would have been defined as an unconventional lifestyle. As a more conditioned and somewhat more enlightened audience, those of us reading in 2010 of events hidden back in the seventies by ultra-conservative bluebloods intent on keeping their reputations intact, may raise an eyebrow or two when attempting to relate the "secret" on a personal level. However, if expectations are high with regard to a climatic moment where the revelatory moment hits hard and fast, look elsewhere for a more gut-wrenching read.

On a technical level, De Rosnay's narrative flows like the subtle turning of the inner self. Antoine, her 40-something main character, makes use of the catastrophic pause resulting in the event of his and his sister Melanie's car accident to explore the failed relationships in his life. Divorced, he struggles to understand his forever-in-love feelings for his ex-wife, his difficulties maintaining a current understanding for his two children and his inability to connect with a woman of significance. As the secret life of his mother unravels, Antoine kick starts his own world back into an orbit that makes sense--he sees his father and his family in a new perspective and is able to move on in a way that is celebratory rather than wistful.

During my listening of this recording, I felt Rey's narration in tone to be reminiscent to that of Daphne Du Maurier's character of John in "[[ASIN:081221725X The Scapegoat]]." The same sense of aloneness--remarkably poignant and soul-searching is inherent in both these voices--the regret of failure taints their every thought and action. Indeed, Du Maurier's plot may contain more action--it is considerably a more complicated portrayal of two sides of one person's personality. Nonetheless, de Rosnay achieves a similar mind-perplexing ambiance that allows us to see Rey's stagnation and growth.

The cultured tones of Simon Vance bring Antoine Ray and his ponderous universe to life. Vance adequately, if not, at times, pretentiously, conveys Antoine's privilege repressed sensibilities, ensuing confusion regarding his mother's choices and eventual satisfied realization in a way that keeps the listener engaged and utterly absorbed without being tedious.

Bottom line? In Tatiana de Rosnay's "A Secret Kept," a birthday journey triggers the unclear childhood memories of a mother's secret life and allows narrator Antoine Rey a needed cessation as he reflects upon the nature of his family and his need to move out of the mire of his own arrested development. A small story with little action, de Rosnay relies upon the changing sensibility of Antoine to keep the pages turning. Recommended for those who like introspection and understand that growing up can happen at any age.
Diana Faillace Von Behren
"reneofc"

I am giving this four stars as an average of myself and my partner's ratings. She loved it when we were driving in the car between Bloomington, IN and Cleveland, OH. Thought the story was well plotted and read very dramatically. I, on the other hand, kept dozing off, and could never tell really where the story was going. I have heard the same narrator before, in another audio book and I know he's not the problem, since that book (Assegai) was completely gripping and held my interest every "page". I hesitate to stereotype this story as a "chick lit" but, at least in my sample space of two, that's the audience I believe it will appeal to!