The Last Secret

February 16, 2009
Keeping secrets leads to calamitous consequences in Morris’s disturbing domestic thriller. At age 17, Nora Trimble has a dangerous eight-day summer escapade with psycho boyfriend Eddie Hawkins that ends in a violent incident in a bar. Twenty-six years later, Nora is the happy wife of wealthy Kendall “Ken” Hammond, co-owner of a smalltown Massachusetts newspaper, and the devoted mother of two teens. Her world’s turned upside down by Eddie’s shocking reappearance and Ken’s revelation that he’s been having an adulterous relationship for four years with his childhood sweetheart Robin Gendron, his best friend’s wife. Nora must contend with not only marital woes but the blackmailing serial killer Eddie, who refuses to leave town because of his new obsession—Robin. Morris (The Lost Mother
) knocks over a domino chain of events that, while not too surprising, confirm the importance of comprehending past mistakes to avoid future ones.

January 15, 2009
Morris, a PEN/Faulkner finalist ("Vanished") and Oprah Book Club author ("Songs in Ordinary Time"), here offers a melodramatic plotline that develops into a memorable, cinematic novel through strong portrayals of complex personalities. The central figure is Massachusetts wife and mother Nora Trimble Hammond, admired for her charitable work, married to a popular member of a prominent family, and happily employed at her in-laws' newspaper. Nora has no clue how fragile her customary existence is until her husband confesses to a long-term affair with a former sweetheart. Nora's emotions are further shattered by the reappearance in her life of conniving Eddie Hawkins, who knows too much about a violent episode from her troubled adolescence. As suspense builds, Morris adds context and depth by carefully revealing inner lives dominated by deception and loneliness, creating empathy for a variety of flawed characters, including even monstrous Eddie. Recommended for most fiction collections.Starr E. Smith, Fairfax Cty. P.L., VA

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2009
One assumes that a woman who marries into a family of privilege has the world on a string. Nora Hammond felt that way about her own life. Married with two teenage children, a prominent job at her husbands family newspaper, socializing with the wealthy and powerful, Nora was living her picture-perfect lifeuntilher husband, Ken, reveals he has been having a relationship with one of Noras best friends for years. What follows is a wrenching portrait of a family falling apart under the weight and ramifications of the affair and their futile struggle to stay together. As if this wasnt emotionally compelling enough, Morris, unfortunately, addsa subplota man from Noras past comes back to haunt her. It is unnecessary, distracting, and at times ruins the psychological arc Morris works to build. In the end, Morris ties the stories together, but it feels forced and unsatisfying. Those who follow this highly regarded authorwill want to read The Last Secret; those new to Morris shouldstart with an earlier title.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)