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Can You Keep a Secret?
It's time for a reunion
Lindsey hasn't spoken to Rachael in twenty years, not since her brother's 18th birthday party at their parents' remote country house. A night that shattered so many friendships - and left Rachel's father dead.
Now Thornbury Hall is up for sale, and the old gang are back there, together again. A weekend to say goodbye to the old place, to talk about the past. But twenty years of secrets aren't given up lightly. Some won't speak about what happened that night. While others want to ensure that no one does. Surviving the weekend is going to depend on whether you can keep a secret . . .
Lindsey hasn't spoken to Rachael in twenty years, not since her brother's 18th birthday party at their parents' remote country house. A night that shattered so many friendships - and left Rachel's father dead.
Now Thornbury Hall is up for sale, and the old gang are back there, together again. A weekend to say goodbye to the old place, to talk about the past. But twenty years of secrets aren't given up lightly. Some won't speak about what happened that night. While others want to ensure that no one does. Surviving the weekend is going to depend on whether you can keep a secret . . .
378 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 24, 2017
45 people are currently reading
907 people want to read
About the author
Karen Perry
22 books247 followersKaren Perry is the pen name of Dublin-based authors Paul Perry and Karen Gillece.
Paul Perry is the author of a number of critically acclaimed books. A winner of The Hennessy New Irish Writer of the Year Award, he is a writer and course director in poetry at the Faber Academy in Dublin.
Karen Gillece is the author of four critically acclaimed novels. In 2009 she won the European Union Prize for Literature (Ireland).
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name
Paul Perry is the author of a number of critically acclaimed books. A winner of The Hennessy New Irish Writer of the Year Award, he is a writer and course director in poetry at the Faber Academy in Dublin.
Karen Gillece is the author of four critically acclaimed novels. In 2009 she won the European Union Prize for Literature (Ireland).
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 160 reviews
November 24, 2017
This is an excellent psychological thriller from the authors set in Dublin, and a country estate just outside, Thornbury Hall, with two timelines, the early 1990s, and the present day. Lindsey is a forensic crime scene photographer working the police, with an eye for the gruesome and bloody details of the crimes she takes pictures of. A feeling of nostalgia for the halcyon days spent with Rachel Begenal, her best friend at school and her family, has her impulsively visiting Thornbury Hall. There she meets Patrick, Rachel's brother, who has struggled to maintain the upkeep of the place, now severely run down and dilapidated. To Lindsey's joy, she and Patrick become a couple, her younger self had a huge crush on him. At the same time, a tumour is discovered behind her eye, which affects and distorts her vision on occasion. After making the momentous decision to sell Thornbury Hall, Patrick invites a close group of people to say a last goodbye to the place and a shooting party to kill and scare the huge numbers of ominous and menacing crows. An apprehensive Lindsey worries about seeing Rachel again after their spectacular fallout at Patrick's 18th birthday party, where so much happened including the father, Peter Begenal's suicide.
The younger 15 year old Lindsey is out of her depth and rather naive when it comes to understanding the Begenals and the circles they move in. However, she is dazzled by them, and to her shame, wants to be closer to them and a part of them, not her own family where she is experiencing problems with her father. Hilary, Rachel's cousin, stops coming to the Hall after a social shindig where she participates in putting on a play. Marcus is gay, something that Lindsey fails to cotton on to. Niall, is rather brash, irritatingly displaying a braggadacio that puts Lindsey on edge. The growing sophistication of Rachel and her move towards a sexual affair with an older man begin to lead to a growing rift between the two girls. Peter exacerbates the situation by saying that Lindsey is the daughter he never had and by gifting an expensive Leica camera to her, thus sparking Rachel's resentment. Rachel's mother, Heather, never really warmed to Lindsey, and initially is rather hostile to her. However, as secrets from the past begin to emerge and Lindsey learns that she was blind to so much that occurred, the repercussions are both deadly and devastating.
This is a highly enjoyable and entertaining story with plenty of twists, details and suspense. The Karen Perry writers present a well written and tense narrative that held my attention throughout. There was plenty of intrigue, not to mention an air of creepiness and menace that pervaded Thornbury Hall. Ghosts of the past seem to be ever present, an omen of the horrors to come. A number of the characters are downright unlikeable but compelling nevertheless. The authors capture a particular era in which lies a world of privilege, power and wealth, below which run strong, unsettling and disturbing currents. A great read which I highly recommend! Many thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph for an ARC.
The younger 15 year old Lindsey is out of her depth and rather naive when it comes to understanding the Begenals and the circles they move in. However, she is dazzled by them, and to her shame, wants to be closer to them and a part of them, not her own family where she is experiencing problems with her father. Hilary, Rachel's cousin, stops coming to the Hall after a social shindig where she participates in putting on a play. Marcus is gay, something that Lindsey fails to cotton on to. Niall, is rather brash, irritatingly displaying a braggadacio that puts Lindsey on edge. The growing sophistication of Rachel and her move towards a sexual affair with an older man begin to lead to a growing rift between the two girls. Peter exacerbates the situation by saying that Lindsey is the daughter he never had and by gifting an expensive Leica camera to her, thus sparking Rachel's resentment. Rachel's mother, Heather, never really warmed to Lindsey, and initially is rather hostile to her. However, as secrets from the past begin to emerge and Lindsey learns that she was blind to so much that occurred, the repercussions are both deadly and devastating.
This is a highly enjoyable and entertaining story with plenty of twists, details and suspense. The Karen Perry writers present a well written and tense narrative that held my attention throughout. There was plenty of intrigue, not to mention an air of creepiness and menace that pervaded Thornbury Hall. Ghosts of the past seem to be ever present, an omen of the horrors to come. A number of the characters are downright unlikeable but compelling nevertheless. The authors capture a particular era in which lies a world of privilege, power and wealth, below which run strong, unsettling and disturbing currents. A great read which I highly recommend! Many thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph for an ARC.
December 2, 2017
Moving on swiftly from the woefully unimaginative title, Can You Keep A Secret? suffers from one glaring problem: a stunning lack of originality. Anyone who has dipped a toe into the psychological thriller market over the last few years will be aware that the old school reunion plot has been overdone. Whilst the writing is perfectly competent, the formula is tired and there is nothing that elevates this above the numerous other novels in the genre. In fact, the result is simply an amalgamation of Ruth Ware’s bestsellers In A Dark, Dark Wood and The Lying Game, mixed with a pinch of The Poison Tree by Erin Kelly. The tagline in itself it almost enough to almost make readers lose the will to live.. “Twenty years of secrets. One weekend for the truth.”
Can You Keep A Secret? is the fourth novel from Karen Perry, the Irish writing team of Karen Gillette and Paul Perry combined but the first that I have read and is told over a dual timeline narrative (1991/92 and 2017). Opening with forty-year-old Garda forensic photographer and lead protagonist, Lindsey Morgan, cataloguing a crime scene outside Dublin her mind wanders back to her schooldays and firm friendship with illustrious Rachel Bagenal and the weekends that she spent at the family home nearby. With the friendship in ruins and a parting of the ways, Lindsay has not ventured near or seen anything of the imposing ancestral home of Thornbury Hall in almost two decades. Stopping off on her way home to Dublin she is horrified at the state of disrepair of a place that holds so many memories of her adolescence, both good and bad. Stumbling upon lonely and beleaguered, Patrick, Rachel’s older brother, he regales her with his failed money-making exploits to keep the property afloat, eventually concluding that his only option is to put the dilapidated estate up for sale. As Lindsey and Patrick grow closer and a relationship begins the fateful events of twenty years ago which left Patrick and Rachel’s father, Peter Bagenal, dead remain at the back of both of their minds and for Lindsey, the impending prospect of a reunion with Rachel. When Patrick quickly acquires a buyer and makes plans to depart he decides to reunite the old gang of six school friends for a final send off to Thornbury Hall, a place that holds so much of their shared memories. Lindsey is immediately apprehensive but accedes to Patrick’s request under the weight of her own failing health which encourages her to cease the day, give love a chance and attempt to overcome the very tangled past.
Narrated in the first person by Lindsey in its entirety the story covers her arrival as a fifteen-year-old new girl at St Alban’s school, swiftly taken under the wing of immensely popular, Rachel Bagenal. Feeling privileged to be her chosen friend, gauche publican’s daughter Lindsey has her eyes opened to the privileged upbringing and the Bagenal elders, so very different to her own parents. It is over the months of weekends spent there that Rachel, her dumpy cousin Hilary and inexperienced Lindsey become integral to the bustle of family life. Along with Patrick, two-years senior to Rachel and his pals, serious and reserved Marcus and cocksure and immature Niall, the six become as almost permanent fixture around the estate. Lindsey is quick to fall under the thrall of the sophisticated Bagenal family, not only Rachel and Patrick, but their debonair and assured father, Peter, but finds herself intimidated by their flighty mother, Heather. As Lindsey grows closer to Peter, in some respects replacing Rachel is his affections it is she he chooses to entrust with his precious camera, but for six friends Peter seems to represent a significant large presence in their lives, from Niall’s admiration to Hilary’s standoffishness. As the distance between Rachel and Lindsey widens and resentment come to the fore, events finally build to a head at the dramatic eighteenth birthday party of Patrick on Midsummer’s Eve, when the fissures amongst the group are irretrievably severed. Sadly it is this single event this feels like the only moment of intrigue throughout the novel, although Perry does scrape the barrel and offer some half-hearted ghostly creepiness (clothes falling off hangers, dodgy plumbing, pictures falling down) as the events of the 2017 reunion provide a chance for some to settle old scores.
As the novel progresses and the reader is able to intuit the strains in the friendships it is difficult not to concluded that the motive behind matters is as paltry as they come. In fact, murdering a person for their last Rolo seems a more plausible and justifiable motive. Apart from Lindsey and Peter Bagenal I found all of the characters made an indifferent impression and lacked spark and dynamism. Even Niall, the only one with much to single him out as a focal point, failed to shake things up. The twists are foreseeable and the result is another ‘middle class girl out of her depth amongst the elite’ storyline with the reliance on a lame motive adding the icing on the cake.
Any more derivative and Karen Perry could be sued for plagiarism! Underwhelming and one of the most unsatisfying psychological thrillers that I have read this year. Can You Keep A Secret? lacks any sense of tension and the denouement will leave readers feeling flat and questioning if this adds anything to an already saturated marketplace. Derivative and then some, the characters do not leave a lasting impression and the twists are mere tremors! A psychological thriller than starts and finishes with a whimper. Predictable and lacking impetus.
Can You Keep A Secret? is the fourth novel from Karen Perry, the Irish writing team of Karen Gillette and Paul Perry combined but the first that I have read and is told over a dual timeline narrative (1991/92 and 2017). Opening with forty-year-old Garda forensic photographer and lead protagonist, Lindsey Morgan, cataloguing a crime scene outside Dublin her mind wanders back to her schooldays and firm friendship with illustrious Rachel Bagenal and the weekends that she spent at the family home nearby. With the friendship in ruins and a parting of the ways, Lindsay has not ventured near or seen anything of the imposing ancestral home of Thornbury Hall in almost two decades. Stopping off on her way home to Dublin she is horrified at the state of disrepair of a place that holds so many memories of her adolescence, both good and bad. Stumbling upon lonely and beleaguered, Patrick, Rachel’s older brother, he regales her with his failed money-making exploits to keep the property afloat, eventually concluding that his only option is to put the dilapidated estate up for sale. As Lindsey and Patrick grow closer and a relationship begins the fateful events of twenty years ago which left Patrick and Rachel’s father, Peter Bagenal, dead remain at the back of both of their minds and for Lindsey, the impending prospect of a reunion with Rachel. When Patrick quickly acquires a buyer and makes plans to depart he decides to reunite the old gang of six school friends for a final send off to Thornbury Hall, a place that holds so much of their shared memories. Lindsey is immediately apprehensive but accedes to Patrick’s request under the weight of her own failing health which encourages her to cease the day, give love a chance and attempt to overcome the very tangled past.
Narrated in the first person by Lindsey in its entirety the story covers her arrival as a fifteen-year-old new girl at St Alban’s school, swiftly taken under the wing of immensely popular, Rachel Bagenal. Feeling privileged to be her chosen friend, gauche publican’s daughter Lindsey has her eyes opened to the privileged upbringing and the Bagenal elders, so very different to her own parents. It is over the months of weekends spent there that Rachel, her dumpy cousin Hilary and inexperienced Lindsey become integral to the bustle of family life. Along with Patrick, two-years senior to Rachel and his pals, serious and reserved Marcus and cocksure and immature Niall, the six become as almost permanent fixture around the estate. Lindsey is quick to fall under the thrall of the sophisticated Bagenal family, not only Rachel and Patrick, but their debonair and assured father, Peter, but finds herself intimidated by their flighty mother, Heather. As Lindsey grows closer to Peter, in some respects replacing Rachel is his affections it is she he chooses to entrust with his precious camera, but for six friends Peter seems to represent a significant large presence in their lives, from Niall’s admiration to Hilary’s standoffishness. As the distance between Rachel and Lindsey widens and resentment come to the fore, events finally build to a head at the dramatic eighteenth birthday party of Patrick on Midsummer’s Eve, when the fissures amongst the group are irretrievably severed. Sadly it is this single event this feels like the only moment of intrigue throughout the novel, although Perry does scrape the barrel and offer some half-hearted ghostly creepiness (clothes falling off hangers, dodgy plumbing, pictures falling down) as the events of the 2017 reunion provide a chance for some to settle old scores.
As the novel progresses and the reader is able to intuit the strains in the friendships it is difficult not to concluded that the motive behind matters is as paltry as they come. In fact, murdering a person for their last Rolo seems a more plausible and justifiable motive. Apart from Lindsey and Peter Bagenal I found all of the characters made an indifferent impression and lacked spark and dynamism. Even Niall, the only one with much to single him out as a focal point, failed to shake things up. The twists are foreseeable and the result is another ‘middle class girl out of her depth amongst the elite’ storyline with the reliance on a lame motive adding the icing on the cake.
Any more derivative and Karen Perry could be sued for plagiarism! Underwhelming and one of the most unsatisfying psychological thrillers that I have read this year. Can You Keep A Secret? lacks any sense of tension and the denouement will leave readers feeling flat and questioning if this adds anything to an already saturated marketplace. Derivative and then some, the characters do not leave a lasting impression and the twists are mere tremors! A psychological thriller than starts and finishes with a whimper. Predictable and lacking impetus.
August 10, 2017
Having enjoyed Karen Perry's previous novels I was really looking forward to Can you Keep a Secret
This is a thriller where years of secrets and intrigue come to boiling point on a weekend reunion for friends and family at the crumbling estate called Thornbury Hall.
Karen Perry is certainly a writer with a terrific imagination as her past novels The Boy That Never Was
and Girl Unknown
were compelling and suspensful. Both novels I really enjoyed but Can you Keep a Secret just didn't seem to draw me in quite as much, while there is suspense and intrigue and the writing is good the book for the first 120 pages was a slow burner and took me a while connect or care for any of the characters. It does get there in the end and perhaps I just didn't have the patience for the slow reveal and others may appreciate this one better.
I look forward to more novels from this author.
My thanks to Penguin books for the opportunity to read an advanced copy in return for an honest review
This is a thriller where years of secrets and intrigue come to boiling point on a weekend reunion for friends and family at the crumbling estate called Thornbury Hall.
Karen Perry is certainly a writer with a terrific imagination as her past novels The Boy That Never Was
and Girl Unknown
were compelling and suspensful. Both novels I really enjoyed but Can you Keep a Secret just didn't seem to draw me in quite as much, while there is suspense and intrigue and the writing is good the book for the first 120 pages was a slow burner and took me a while connect or care for any of the characters. It does get there in the end and perhaps I just didn't have the patience for the slow reveal and others may appreciate this one better.I look forward to more novels from this author.
My thanks to Penguin books for the opportunity to read an advanced copy in return for an honest review
October 27, 2017
This tells the story of a group of school friends who reunite after several years. There are several characters and as the book progresses we learn more about the relationships between them and what there backgrounds and lives entail. There is also an abundance of secrets that have been carried for many years and it is these relationships that make the book an entertaining tale. The story does feel a little predictable but overall I enjoyed it and it is also very well written. I will now read more from this author. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
September 9, 2017
This is one of those types of stories that I love - school secrets shedding their skin in adult lives - the past/present colliding in dreadful and compelling ways - and with "Can You Keep A Secret?" the writing team that is Karen Perry have come up with a corker.
Genuinely absorbing the author takes us through the relationships between a group school friends, the impressive home of one of them forms its own character in the background - a tragedy at a party has repercussions years later as the friends gather once more to say goodbye to that home before it is sold. This is almost like a shakespearean tragedy unfolding as events take on new meaning and the true nature of what went on both in reality and in mindset back then come to light. Through the voice of main protagonist Rachel, this is a twisty tale indeed and often actually surprising.
Overall a truly excellent read, one that I will be doing a feature review on in November near release.
Definitely Recommended if you too are a fan of this dynamic in storytelling.
Genuinely absorbing the author takes us through the relationships between a group school friends, the impressive home of one of them forms its own character in the background - a tragedy at a party has repercussions years later as the friends gather once more to say goodbye to that home before it is sold. This is almost like a shakespearean tragedy unfolding as events take on new meaning and the true nature of what went on both in reality and in mindset back then come to light. Through the voice of main protagonist Rachel, this is a twisty tale indeed and often actually surprising.
Overall a truly excellent read, one that I will be doing a feature review on in November near release.
Definitely Recommended if you too are a fan of this dynamic in storytelling.
December 1, 2017
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I’m a huge fan of writing duo Paul Perry and Karen Gillecem, who together write as Karen Perry – I really enjoyed Only We Know and Girl Unknown so was really excited to read Can You Keep A Secret.
It’s a very atmospheric novel, weaving two timeframes – 1991, when Lindsey and friends were only 15, and the present day. I love novels that do this, especially when they involve some air of mystery, which this one definitely does. The characters – both as younger versions of themselves and as present-day adults – are intriguing (though not all of them are very likable) and I really enjoyed slowly finding out more and more about them.
It’s packed full of secrets, of varying sizes and importance, and shows how they can affect people and relationships even years later! I don’t want to give too much away about the story, but rest assured there are plenty of twists, tension and surprises in this well written, intriguing plot.
If you're a fan of Karen Perry or just want to give some of their novels a go, this is a great option and one which I really enjoyed - as usual!
Many thanks to Michael Joseph UK for providing a copy of this novel on which I chose to write an honest and unbiased review.
I’m a huge fan of writing duo Paul Perry and Karen Gillecem, who together write as Karen Perry – I really enjoyed Only We Know and Girl Unknown so was really excited to read Can You Keep A Secret.
It’s a very atmospheric novel, weaving two timeframes – 1991, when Lindsey and friends were only 15, and the present day. I love novels that do this, especially when they involve some air of mystery, which this one definitely does. The characters – both as younger versions of themselves and as present-day adults – are intriguing (though not all of them are very likable) and I really enjoyed slowly finding out more and more about them.
It’s packed full of secrets, of varying sizes and importance, and shows how they can affect people and relationships even years later! I don’t want to give too much away about the story, but rest assured there are plenty of twists, tension and surprises in this well written, intriguing plot.
If you're a fan of Karen Perry or just want to give some of their novels a go, this is a great option and one which I really enjoyed - as usual!
Many thanks to Michael Joseph UK for providing a copy of this novel on which I chose to write an honest and unbiased review.
June 5, 2021
3.5 stars rounded up.
Whoever agrees to a reunion, well they must be mad. They never work, especially in novels. But.. they do make for good plots!
Lindsey hasn’t spoken to her old friend Rachel in over twenty years. Their lives have moved on, but now that Rachel’s old family home is up for sale the old gang agree to return there for the weekend, and old secrets resurface.
Set over two timelines, 1991 and 2017, this book explores the maelstrom of family dynamics. Rachel Bagenal is from a wealthy family where money and confidence come hand in hand. Lindsay, on the outskirts, is the opposite, but aspires to be a part of this family despite being secretly in awe of them.
Friendships, fallings out and secrets that have lasted decades are all here. It’s an easy enough read which I enjoyed, despite not particularly liking any of the characters.
Whoever agrees to a reunion, well they must be mad. They never work, especially in novels. But.. they do make for good plots!
Lindsey hasn’t spoken to her old friend Rachel in over twenty years. Their lives have moved on, but now that Rachel’s old family home is up for sale the old gang agree to return there for the weekend, and old secrets resurface.
Set over two timelines, 1991 and 2017, this book explores the maelstrom of family dynamics. Rachel Bagenal is from a wealthy family where money and confidence come hand in hand. Lindsay, on the outskirts, is the opposite, but aspires to be a part of this family despite being secretly in awe of them.
Friendships, fallings out and secrets that have lasted decades are all here. It’s an easy enough read which I enjoyed, despite not particularly liking any of the characters.
November 15, 2017
I liked Can You Keep a Secret, but i didn’t love it. It seemed that you were half way through the book before anything of real significance happened. I’m all for setting the scene but I felt this could have been done much quicker.
The book is set between present day and 1992. Each chapter is clearly identified so there’s no confusion as to which era you are in. There are numerous characters but they work well together but I found the whole book just lacked pace and I couldn’t connect with the characters.
Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin and the author for the chance to review.
The book is set between present day and 1992. Each chapter is clearly identified so there’s no confusion as to which era you are in. There are numerous characters but they work well together but I found the whole book just lacked pace and I couldn’t connect with the characters.
Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin and the author for the chance to review.
January 14, 2018
The book alternates between events in 1991and 2017 and features the Bagenall family, and in particular the friendship between Rachel Bagenall and Lindsey. In 1991 they were 15 years old and enjoying weekends and holidays at Thornbury Hall with the Bagenall family accepting Lindsey as one of the family. Rachel’s father, Peter Bagenall dies suddenly and Lindsey meets up with Rachel’s brother, Patrick, at Thornbury Hall and they fall in love. Patrick is selling the family home and decides to hold a reunion weekend. Things start to go wrong and all sorts of betrayals and secrets are revealed. This is a very gripping and tense book with quite a lot of twists and turns. An interesting read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.
December 16, 2017
http://www.jerasjamboree.co.uk/2017/1...
I do enjoy a dual timeline and often find myself emotionally invested more in one time period than the other. The story in Can You Keep a Secret? unravels in 1991 and 2017 and for me, it was events unfolding in 1991 that captured my imagination.
At Thornbury in 2017 you can feel the undercurrents running through the friendships, most subtle, but for Lindsey and Rachael the antagonism is there from the first. I wanted to know what had happened in the past to cause a major shift in their friendship. Why was Lindsey so uncomfortable? What had she done? And with mysterious events happening in the house, was there someone else out to spook her? Was it Patrick? Were they all hiding behind masks? But maybe those things weren’t happening at all …
1991. Lindsey is an outsider and so desperately wants to belong. Her passive aggressive friendship with Rachael was so interesting. The deeper she gets into the Bagenal lives at Thornbury Hall the more her friendship with Rachael changes. An enigma, I want to know more about her own childhood and her motivation.
The reveal in the past (which didn’t surprise me although the twist did) affects two of the characters and echoes through the years. It was interesting to see how all the friends had weathered the intervening years. In the present there’s more than one agenda that affects everyone present for the weekend which unfolds in step with the past.
There is a heavy and foreboding atmosphere throughout both timelines. In both there’s something not adding up, something not quite as expected. The crows with their cawing connect both (very cleverly) and lend a sense of doom to the estate. The isolation of Thornbury is the perfect setting and I loved the contrast between the group as young adults and again as adults.
Can You Keep a Secret? is a recommended read from me.
I do enjoy a dual timeline and often find myself emotionally invested more in one time period than the other. The story in Can You Keep a Secret? unravels in 1991 and 2017 and for me, it was events unfolding in 1991 that captured my imagination.
At Thornbury in 2017 you can feel the undercurrents running through the friendships, most subtle, but for Lindsey and Rachael the antagonism is there from the first. I wanted to know what had happened in the past to cause a major shift in their friendship. Why was Lindsey so uncomfortable? What had she done? And with mysterious events happening in the house, was there someone else out to spook her? Was it Patrick? Were they all hiding behind masks? But maybe those things weren’t happening at all …
1991. Lindsey is an outsider and so desperately wants to belong. Her passive aggressive friendship with Rachael was so interesting. The deeper she gets into the Bagenal lives at Thornbury Hall the more her friendship with Rachael changes. An enigma, I want to know more about her own childhood and her motivation.
The reveal in the past (which didn’t surprise me although the twist did) affects two of the characters and echoes through the years. It was interesting to see how all the friends had weathered the intervening years. In the present there’s more than one agenda that affects everyone present for the weekend which unfolds in step with the past.
There is a heavy and foreboding atmosphere throughout both timelines. In both there’s something not adding up, something not quite as expected. The crows with their cawing connect both (very cleverly) and lend a sense of doom to the estate. The isolation of Thornbury is the perfect setting and I loved the contrast between the group as young adults and again as adults.
Can You Keep a Secret? is a recommended read from me.
January 28, 2018
Going to be in the minority here but this book was a real disappointment. Had to recheck the publication date of this book, the language is so formal I thought it might have been written over 100 years ago. There is no anticipation or spark in this book. This book is NOT a psychological thriller by any means. Poor girl meets rich friend, longs to be part of rich girls family. Done, done and done. Nothing made this book interesting. The characters were not particularly likable. The plot was contrived. And who in the world goes home to a dinner party featuring home movies when one of the 6 friends is laying in critical condition in hospital? No one, that’s who. So implausible. Not recommended.
March 26, 2020
Review to come.
July 20, 2020
A masterful creation of atmosphere. Beautiful prose.
July 6, 2018
Atmospheric psychological thriller centring round a family country house. Lindsey first visits the home of her school friend in the 1990s & then is invited for a reunion 20 years later when the house is having to be put on the market.
Full of nostalgia & a growing sense of creepy unease, as the story slowly unfolds between the two timelines, and it is unclear how reliable the narrator is...
A novel that kept me guessing & predicting.
Full of nostalgia & a growing sense of creepy unease, as the story slowly unfolds between the two timelines, and it is unclear how reliable the narrator is...
A novel that kept me guessing & predicting.
December 16, 2017
Can you keep a secret? is the latest psychological twisty school re-union gone wrong, chiller by Karen Perry, which is is the pen name of Dublin-based authors Paul Perry and Karen Gillece.
It's a conundrum of a thriller with lots of mystery about, unsurprisingly, secrets and lies.
A group of ex-school chums get back together 20 years after they previously congregated for a tragedy laden 18th birthday party at Thornbury Manor, the family pile of 2 of their peers, brother and sister Rachel and Patrick.
Lindsey is our main protagonist, she was at the original event and is about to be included in this one too.
The Manor house is now run down and rather ramshackle and Patrick can no longer find the upkeep, so he gets in touch with Lindsey then decides that he will hold a final bash before he sells off the hall. As the small group of friends who attended his 18th gather together for the first time in two decades, old scores to be settled and tensions mount, its almost inevitable that its going to prove to be a big and rather costly mistake.
Things start to go wrong from the outset and as the spooky old mansion shivers with a sense of haunting malevolence, human betrayals and secrets come to the surface and you the reader, just go along for the ride, knowing someone somehow is going to get hurt.
Truths will eventually emerge and until then you don't really know quite who did what and to whom, in the past, but you know for sure that this volatile crowd really shouldn't think about having a drink then going around the estate shooting guns, but that's what they decide to do!!
It's a very gripping, tension filled story with a sense of inevitability and few real shockers along the way.
It's a conundrum of a thriller with lots of mystery about, unsurprisingly, secrets and lies.
A group of ex-school chums get back together 20 years after they previously congregated for a tragedy laden 18th birthday party at Thornbury Manor, the family pile of 2 of their peers, brother and sister Rachel and Patrick.
Lindsey is our main protagonist, she was at the original event and is about to be included in this one too.
The Manor house is now run down and rather ramshackle and Patrick can no longer find the upkeep, so he gets in touch with Lindsey then decides that he will hold a final bash before he sells off the hall. As the small group of friends who attended his 18th gather together for the first time in two decades, old scores to be settled and tensions mount, its almost inevitable that its going to prove to be a big and rather costly mistake.
Things start to go wrong from the outset and as the spooky old mansion shivers with a sense of haunting malevolence, human betrayals and secrets come to the surface and you the reader, just go along for the ride, knowing someone somehow is going to get hurt.
Truths will eventually emerge and until then you don't really know quite who did what and to whom, in the past, but you know for sure that this volatile crowd really shouldn't think about having a drink then going around the estate shooting guns, but that's what they decide to do!!
It's a very gripping, tension filled story with a sense of inevitability and few real shockers along the way.
December 4, 2017
When former schoolfriends gather at a crumbling country estate after two decades, their reunion is an opportunity to see where their lives have taken them and rekindle old friendships. But events take a darker turn - and secrets and lies are unearthed, with devastating consequences...
That's the premise, anyway. Sounds rather intriguing, no? Sadly, however, Can You Keep a Secret? fails to deliver the whack of suspense it promises and instead leaves the reader feeling a distinct sense of having been cheated - and of deja vu.
The whole 'old friends reunion with shattering consequences' trope has been so well-used it's now stretched to paper-thinness, and it takes something really quite special to breathe life into this overworked theme. Sadly, Can You Keep a Secret? isn't special at all. Characters are as thin as the plot device they're unfortunate enough to be caught up in - rambling Thornbury Hall, where the 'action' plays out, is the most memorable character and it's a house. Which tells you all you need to know.
Thrills are light and suspense in short supply, and the crux of the tale is flimsy and shockingly insubstantial (so there is at least one shock here). The writing is occasionally rather lovely, but that's not enough to save the book from blahness.
Done many, many times before (usually better, only occasionally worse), Can You Keep a Secret feels like filler rushed out to take advantage of the current hunger for thrillers. Vaguely distracting, it'll do on a long journey if there's nothing else to hand - although you might wish you'd just read the free newspaper ten times instead.
My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
That's the premise, anyway. Sounds rather intriguing, no? Sadly, however, Can You Keep a Secret? fails to deliver the whack of suspense it promises and instead leaves the reader feeling a distinct sense of having been cheated - and of deja vu.
The whole 'old friends reunion with shattering consequences' trope has been so well-used it's now stretched to paper-thinness, and it takes something really quite special to breathe life into this overworked theme. Sadly, Can You Keep a Secret? isn't special at all. Characters are as thin as the plot device they're unfortunate enough to be caught up in - rambling Thornbury Hall, where the 'action' plays out, is the most memorable character and it's a house. Which tells you all you need to know.
Thrills are light and suspense in short supply, and the crux of the tale is flimsy and shockingly insubstantial (so there is at least one shock here). The writing is occasionally rather lovely, but that's not enough to save the book from blahness.
Done many, many times before (usually better, only occasionally worse), Can You Keep a Secret feels like filler rushed out to take advantage of the current hunger for thrillers. Vaguely distracting, it'll do on a long journey if there's nothing else to hand - although you might wish you'd just read the free newspaper ten times instead.
My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
May 8, 2019
Can You Keep a Secret by Karen Perry is a thriller centering around Lindsey and Rachel, who used to be best friends but havent spoken to each other in twenty years, ever since the death of Rachel's father. Now, reunited twenty years later, which one is keeping secrets? And what really happened that night? This novel was ok but I found it to be predictable, hence the 3 stars
March 16, 2018
I felt like this had great potential, although similar to other plot lines I feel like they could have done a lot with it. I liked the two simultaneous timelines from childhood to present day (2017). I just think it lacked a lot of empathy and I felt that it all got a bit silly towards the end if I’m honest!
December 16, 2022
TW// mentions of sexual abuse, grooming, pedophilia
This is undoubtedly the worst book I’ve read all year. What is it with me and reading trash thrillers in December? Last year it was The Maidens and yet i’ve somehow topped it this year. I’m so glad I read it on audiobook so I didn’t waste money on a physical copy or energy reading it physically.
First of all, this isn’t anything super wrong, but it was irritating, how fucking SLOW does the audiobook narrator want to read?? I was having to listen on 2.5x speed just to stay interested.
On to the real issues, and trust me there were real issues:
1. I was really enjoying the book for the first 75%. The atmosphere being created was interesting, there were mysteries that were keeping me hooked etc. BUT THEN the author decided to just throw in lots of grooming and sexual exploitation of minors for…. actually I don’t know what for. Plot lines? Edginess? An easy way to get out of writing a proper ending to a book? Can we please please please just stop with the thrillers that use these sorts of serious issues to further their story? It ain’t fun to read about and literally every other thriller is doing this at this point.
2. I saw Megwithbooks saying this in a few videos recently, but can we PLEASE stop using illness or disability as a way of making characters unreliable narrators?? Just please, like do with the dodgy character or something 😭 However if you do choose to do this, can we at least not make our MC say slurs?? The end of this book legit reads like, “oh I might be temporarily held down by this illness but at least i’m not like those [insert chosen slur here]”
3. In the same vein, and yet another thing Megwithbooks said (icon ✌🏻) can we STOP with the mental illness as a way of making characters crazy or behaving like legit KILLERS?? bestie bro someone does not have to be anxious or depressed or have fits of mania to kill someone. again, just be original babe I beg
4. Did we really need an entire PAINFUL scene of an exploited child listening to their abuser, along with other DISGUSTING men have a conversation over a picture of her naked body saying “there’s only so much you can do with shadows and lights” and laughing at her CHILDISH behaviour as if a 16 year old won’t act like a child???
bestie boo, if you don’t want your “art subjects” to act immature, don’t go photographing NUDE CHILDREN!!!
5. Also, was an affair with a teacher resulting in pregnancy necessary?? Like if you’re going to go with the whole “scorned woman” trope, maybe at least be original in why she’s scorned??? I’m not saying i’m expecting a masterpiece or anything, but a semblance of originality would be amazing 😍
6. Let’s actually stop with this trope, I BEG!! Please, please, please stop having family members kill to cover up the pedophilic behaviours of their other family members. Sorry to tell you, but it’s not fun or interesting!!!
This was honestly just a pile of hot garbage. I am fuming. HOW DID THE MAIN CHARACTER END UP COMING ACROSS AS WORSE AND MORE UNLIKEABLE THAN HER BEST FRIEND’S CRAPPY DAD WHO WAS TAKING PICTURES OF KIDS 😭😭😭
Anyways, that’s my two cents. Thanks for reading, and I’m so so sorry if you also chose to read this
This is undoubtedly the worst book I’ve read all year. What is it with me and reading trash thrillers in December? Last year it was The Maidens and yet i’ve somehow topped it this year. I’m so glad I read it on audiobook so I didn’t waste money on a physical copy or energy reading it physically.
First of all, this isn’t anything super wrong, but it was irritating, how fucking SLOW does the audiobook narrator want to read?? I was having to listen on 2.5x speed just to stay interested.
On to the real issues, and trust me there were real issues:
1. I was really enjoying the book for the first 75%. The atmosphere being created was interesting, there were mysteries that were keeping me hooked etc. BUT THEN the author decided to just throw in lots of grooming and sexual exploitation of minors for…. actually I don’t know what for. Plot lines? Edginess? An easy way to get out of writing a proper ending to a book? Can we please please please just stop with the thrillers that use these sorts of serious issues to further their story? It ain’t fun to read about and literally every other thriller is doing this at this point.
2. I saw Megwithbooks saying this in a few videos recently, but can we PLEASE stop using illness or disability as a way of making characters unreliable narrators?? Just please, like do with the dodgy character or something 😭 However if you do choose to do this, can we at least not make our MC say slurs?? The end of this book legit reads like, “oh I might be temporarily held down by this illness but at least i’m not like those [insert chosen slur here]”
3. In the same vein, and yet another thing Megwithbooks said (icon ✌🏻) can we STOP with the mental illness as a way of making characters crazy or behaving like legit KILLERS?? bestie bro someone does not have to be anxious or depressed or have fits of mania to kill someone. again, just be original babe I beg
4. Did we really need an entire PAINFUL scene of an exploited child listening to their abuser, along with other DISGUSTING men have a conversation over a picture of her naked body saying “there’s only so much you can do with shadows and lights” and laughing at her CHILDISH behaviour as if a 16 year old won’t act like a child???
bestie boo, if you don’t want your “art subjects” to act immature, don’t go photographing NUDE CHILDREN!!!
5. Also, was an affair with a teacher resulting in pregnancy necessary?? Like if you’re going to go with the whole “scorned woman” trope, maybe at least be original in why she’s scorned??? I’m not saying i’m expecting a masterpiece or anything, but a semblance of originality would be amazing 😍
6. Let’s actually stop with this trope, I BEG!! Please, please, please stop having family members kill to cover up the pedophilic behaviours of their other family members. Sorry to tell you, but it’s not fun or interesting!!!
This was honestly just a pile of hot garbage. I am fuming. HOW DID THE MAIN CHARACTER END UP COMING ACROSS AS WORSE AND MORE UNLIKEABLE THAN HER BEST FRIEND’S CRAPPY DAD WHO WAS TAKING PICTURES OF KIDS 😭😭😭
Anyways, that’s my two cents. Thanks for reading, and I’m so so sorry if you also chose to read this
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 29, 2017
I enjoyed this book but it did take me a while to get drawn into the story.
The story is told in alternating chapters between the past and the present and it’s seen mainly through Rachel’s eyes.
The relationships between a group school friends is explored and a tragedy at a party has a lasting effect on them. As they all get together once more to say goodbye to Patrick’s home before it is sold you get a real sense that somethings going to go wrong...
I won’t say anymore as I don’t want to spoil it but if you like a thriller centred around secrets than you’ll enjoy this book.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Books for sending me a copy to read and review.
The story is told in alternating chapters between the past and the present and it’s seen mainly through Rachel’s eyes.
The relationships between a group school friends is explored and a tragedy at a party has a lasting effect on them. As they all get together once more to say goodbye to Patrick’s home before it is sold you get a real sense that somethings going to go wrong...
I won’t say anymore as I don’t want to spoil it but if you like a thriller centred around secrets than you’ll enjoy this book.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Books for sending me a copy to read and review.
April 3, 2018
I've read novels by Karen Perry before, and enjoyed it, and when I read this book I thought it was even better than the previous read of her other books. Can You Keep A Secret? kept me thinking, and I found myself reading as often as I could to find out what would happen.
The characters are really well defined, and all have their own distinct characteristics. The familiar story of a reunion in a big home might be 'overdone', but there's a reason for that: it works. It certainly worked here.
If you get the chance, read it. It's a great read.
The characters are really well defined, and all have their own distinct characteristics. The familiar story of a reunion in a big home might be 'overdone', but there's a reason for that: it works. It certainly worked here.
If you get the chance, read it. It's a great read.
June 26, 2018
This book is pretty much a mash up of a boarding school plot and a school reunion mystery plot. And not in the good ways. There were so many clichés that weren't played out well and seemed to be thrown in to create shock factor or just to make the book longer. I've only been reading thrillers and mysteries for a while now and I can tell how unoriginal this is.
It took until nearly 200 pages before anything actually happened and by then I could pretty much guess how everything was going to happen because of the obvious hints dropped to try and create tension but just didn't work for me.
It took until nearly 200 pages before anything actually happened and by then I could pretty much guess how everything was going to happen because of the obvious hints dropped to try and create tension but just didn't work for me.
January 16, 2018
This book contains everything I love in a book; different timelines, large estate,a reunion and lots of secrets!!!
Was drawn into this book straight away and loved how the different timelines slowly reveal secrets!!
Was drawn into this book straight away and loved how the different timelines slowly reveal secrets!!
January 17, 2018
Excellent thriller really enjoyed it.
August 28, 2023
Très bon thriller psychologique
February 28, 2018
Unfortunately i didn't enjoy this book as much as i would of liked. I felt as thought the ending was rushed and there wasn't many answers. Also i didn't like the characters very much especially Linsey. I felt as though she had no feeling, her boyfriend has just died and she didn't seem the littlest bit upset about it she almost seemed glad of it. It didn't say what happened to Rachel, did she go to jail? Did she die? Who knows. Unfortunately i wouldn't recommend this book as it just doesn't have much substance to it
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 30, 2017
This mystery, crime fiction novel is mainly central to Thornbury Hall home to the Bagenal family. The book has alternating chapters between 1991 and 2017. It took me awhile to get hold my attention as at first I thought the story was just about eccentric adults and posh stuck up kids which I couldn’t relate to. However I persevered with the story and clues were hinted at which finally revealed secrets hidden in both eras. This novel reminds me of a mishmash between Downton Abbey and Murder She Wrote.
In 1991 Rachael Bagenal and her friend Lindsey just 15 years old are enjoying life with weekends and holidays spent at Thornbury Hall with Rachael’s parents who accept Lindsey as one of their own and Patrick Rachael’s brother and his friends. The place appears so lively and fun, something that Lindsey doesn’t have within her own family. This quite idyllic time comes to an abrupt end when the sudden death of Peter Bagenal occurs leaving everyone in shock and they go their separate ways. It is not until 2017 when Lindsey, now a forensic photographer, meets up again with Patrick that she falls in love with him and a reunion weekend is planned for a final shindig at the now crumbling Thornbury Hall before it is sold. Hidden secrets are finally revealed with horrendous consequences that left me shocked and aghast.
In 1991 Rachael Bagenal and her friend Lindsey just 15 years old are enjoying life with weekends and holidays spent at Thornbury Hall with Rachael’s parents who accept Lindsey as one of their own and Patrick Rachael’s brother and his friends. The place appears so lively and fun, something that Lindsey doesn’t have within her own family. This quite idyllic time comes to an abrupt end when the sudden death of Peter Bagenal occurs leaving everyone in shock and they go their separate ways. It is not until 2017 when Lindsey, now a forensic photographer, meets up again with Patrick that she falls in love with him and a reunion weekend is planned for a final shindig at the now crumbling Thornbury Hall before it is sold. Hidden secrets are finally revealed with horrendous consequences that left me shocked and aghast.
September 11, 2018
Good psychological thriller. Great twists at the end
September 24, 2017
4.5 stars
Review to follow...
Review to follow...
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