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The Art of Keeping Secrets

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New York Times bestselling author Patti Callahan Henry transports readers to the Lowcountry of South Carolina, where a tragedy unites two women—and forces them to face the dark secrets of their past…   Since a solo plane crash killed her husband two years ago, Annabelle Murphy has found solace in raising her two children. Just when she thinks the grief is behind her, she receives the news that the wreckage of the plane has been discovered—and that her husband did not die alone. He was with another woman. Suddenly Annabelle is forced to question everything she once held true.   Sofie Milstead knows the woman who was on that plane. A dolphin researcher who has lived a quiet life, Sofie has never let anyone get too close. But when Annabelle shows up on Sofie’s doorstep full of painful questions, both women must confront their intertwining pasts—and find the courage they need to face the truth...

386 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 3, 2008

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2793 people want to read

About the author

Patti Callahan Henry

39 books6,628 followers
Patti Callahan Henry is a New York Times, Globe and Mail, and USA Today bestselling author of sixteen novels, including her newest, The Secret Book of Flora Lea. She’s also a podcast host of original content for her novels, Surviving Savannah and Becoming Mrs. Lewis.

She is the recipient of The Christy Award “Book of the Year”; The Harper Lee Distinguished Writer of the Year and the Alabama Library Association Book of the Year for Becoming Mrs. Lewis. She is the co-host and co-creator of the popular weekly online Friends and Fiction live web show and podcast. Patti also was a contributor to the monthly life lesson essay column for Parade Magazine. She’s published in numerous anthologies, articles, and short story collections, including an Audible Original about Florence Nightingale, titled Wild Swan narrated by the Tony Award winner, Cynthia Erivo.

A full-time author, mother of three, and grandmother of two, she lives in Mountain Brook, Alabama with her husband, Pat Henry.

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5 stars
633 (23%)
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996 (37%)
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780 (29%)
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194 (7%)
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49 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 234 reviews
Profile Image for Terrie  Robinson.
649 reviews1,400 followers
May 20, 2021
"The Art of Keeping Secrets" by Patti Callahan was a beautiful read by a best-selling Southern author.

Annabelle Murphy, whose devoted and deeply loving husband died unexpectedly two years ago, is finally able to live her life as "normal" while raising her two children. Then she hears the news that her husband is missing plane has been located; an unidentified women with him inside the plane. Annabelle's life is upside-down once again with thoughts of doubts of her husband's love and devotion, questioning their entire married life together.

Within this book there is deep love & life-long friendships, wrenching doubt & deception, a visible determination to discover the truth and renewed hope. Along the way twists, turns and questions continue to surface keeping the reader wondering & guessing the outcome.

This book was a great mix of beach read & mystery for me that I thoroughly enjoyed!
Profile Image for Cait S.
974 reviews77 followers
July 18, 2017
Unbelievably trite and cliche. Every single sentence is over dramatic to the extreme. Heart SHATTERING LIKE BROKEN GLASS!!!!!!! *Hand to forehead* Etc etc. It never lets up. There's fluff and then there's cotton candy.

And I hate cotton candy.

I'm less than 100 pages into this book when I'm dropping it, and I can already tell you exactly what comes next. I can tell you how it goes and how it ends and what the twists are. No really, I made my predictions, checked spoiler filled reviews--and I was dead on.

No point in suffering for a story I already know will be lackluster. This has been on my tbr forever and I'm disappointed to say the least.
Profile Image for Pati Judy.
16 reviews2 followers
May 12, 2010
Oh my goodness, I have never read a book with more self pity! I kept reading with hope she would realize the gifts she still held in her life, instead she bored me to the very last page!
Profile Image for Shanon Kluttz.
140 reviews3 followers
July 25, 2023
Didn't get out of the first chapter. The premise was good...the writing style was not for me. Too melodramatic.
Profile Image for Lori.
78 reviews5 followers
December 11, 2012
This was my third book by Henry and my least favorite of the three. I'm not too worried about that, as it's one of her earlier novels and my absolute favorite work by her is one of her latest. I went through this when my Kristin Hannah obsession first started; I began with her latest novel, fell head over heels in love then was not as impressed with her earlier works. The title of this book drew me in first, followed by the cover artwork. Then the storyline got me: Annabelle Murphy's husband is killed in a private plane crash in a remote area of Colorado. Two years later, they finally recover the wreckage and discover he was not in the plane alone - there was also a woman on board. The rest of the story follows Annabelle's search to discover who was with her husband on that plane and why. I had a really hard time liking Annabelle because she was so weak. She couldn't stand up for herself, not even to her teenage daughter (who I wanted to slap, by the way. Thankfully, she was a minor character.). The other main character, Sofie, was also weak and I have a very big problem with weak women. The whole book kept building up to the revelation of who this woman was and why she was with Annabelle's husband and it just seemed like it took forever to get there. Finally, we do get there and, although the ending was far from surprising, I just don't believe it. Yes, it's the author's story and characters and she can make them do whatever she wants, but in my mind, from the picture I had conjured up of Annabelle's husband, I didn't believe for a second that this was the true story.
Profile Image for Jenn.
340 reviews53 followers
December 29, 2022
The Art of Keeping Secrets
by: Patti Callahan Henry
narrators: Janet Metzger and Shannon McManus
audiobook by: Brilliance Audio

It's hard to imagine how character Annabelle Murphy handled losing her husband in a plane crash in the mountains of Colorado. Two years after the crash, however, the wreckage is found. She is then faced with the fact that another woman was on the plane with him. Sofie, a young dolphin researcher, holds the answers to that mystery.

Henry always allows readers to feel the emotions of her richly developed characters. This novel is no exception. As Sophie and Annabelle meet, a spectrum of feelings emerges in the story. Suspicion, secrecy, doubt, and pain surface as the truth is slowly exposed. The narration of Metzger and McManus is moving and affecting, pairing well with the narrative.

I count on Henry's contemporary fiction books to focus on family and circumstances that break and heal their relationships. She brings the past into the present through her captivating plots, eloquent writing, and atmospheric settings. It's no wonder that this author, a Friends and Fiction founder and host, has a top spot among my favorite writers.
Profile Image for Dana.
1,275 reviews
February 9, 2017
This is a well written book, though perhaps it was 50 pages too long. It is one I read years ago, when it was purchased for our public library, in memory of my darling mother, whose memorial service was held at the public library in 2008. I asked that donations be made to the library in her memory, in lieu of flowers or other donations. The head librarian totaled up the donations and sent me to the bookstore to choose scores of beautiful books I felt my mother would have loved, or which her grandchildren would have enjoyed. (I come from a family of lifelong avid readers). I had forgotten that "The Art of Keeping Secrets" was one I had chosen, until I brought it home from the library, in a stack of other novels by Patti Henry, and opened it up and saw the plaque inside the cover memorializing my mother. That was when I realized I had read the book. I only had vague memories of the story, and I am very glad I reread it.
As I recalled from my first reading. this novel was reminiscent, in some ways, of Anita Shreve's "The Pilot's Wife," though not at all a copy, but a plane has gone down, and a husband is dead, and questions remain as to why, and where he was heading, and who was the woman on the plane with him. Patti Henry writes with lyrical beauty, describing the deep south, it's sounds, odors, culture and beauty. The novel addresses how a young (40's) widow goes about continuing to raise her children who are equally broken hearted by their father's death, especially a teenaged daughter who is acting out in her pain, and how her relationships with her dearest friends continue to mean everything to her, but change along the way. Another character holds answers to some of the widow's questions, and is dealing with her own agony. The parallel and connected stories finally come together and offer answers and peace to all those involved. Having finished this novel (again), I have now read every novel written by this fabulous author, and I anxiously await whatever she writes and publishes in the future!
Profile Image for Nancy.
11 reviews
October 3, 2008
I have two categories for books I don't like: books I don't like but can finish, and books I don't like and can't finish. This fell into the former category. I didn't object to the fact that this was a light fluff read. But, I was really irritated by Sophie who is one of the main characters. She's a dolphin researcher who is researching why dolphins get caught in the nets of commercial fishermen so that regulations can be imposed to prevent it. She does her research from the boat of a local commercial fisherman. I grew up in a fishing town, and I don't know one fisherman who would let someone on their boat who is doing research that would ultimately force them to limit their catches or purchase new equipment. The captain of the boat didn't come across as authentic to me in the least. I just couldn't get past the whole dolphin researcher premise because it seemed so poorly researched and unbelievable to me. If it weren't for that, I might have given it two stars.
Profile Image for Gina.
1,171 reviews101 followers
August 22, 2013
This story moved quite slowly for me. The synopsis seemed to imply that there was some great secrets between Annabelle Murphy's family and her husband Knox, who was killed 2 years earlier in a plane crash and the mysterious artist, Liddy Parker. I kept reading the story and feeling a build up of something happening and secrets revealed but I have to say that what was ultimately revealed was a true let down. The story was a introspective look at families, fidelity, and the secrets we all harbor inside of ourselves. I do think that the author really could have taken this a lot further but plot lines were just dropped and left unexplained and the climax of the story really fell short. All in all this was an ok read...just 3 stars for me.
6 reviews
July 30, 2008
While the book has what could be an interesting story, I felt it was pretty poorly written. Strange things like in one paragraph, Annabelle is being told to take two weeks off work. Yet on the next page, she's back at work writing again. While they are minor, the oddities like that are a bit distracting.
Profile Image for Patti.
212 reviews
July 24, 2009
Couldn't finish. Didn't care how it ended.
Profile Image for Daylynn Foster.
191 reviews12 followers
August 10, 2015
Boring fluff. Wanted to see her writing style & how it ended, but not my taste. Will try one more of hers a bit later.
Profile Image for Tonya Lucas.
1,266 reviews19 followers
June 19, 2021
An incredible book of loss, heartache, grief, and redemption.
This book had me hooked from the very beginning until the end.
How would you react if you found out two years later that your husband was not alone in the plane crash that killed him, while flying to Colorado for his annual hunting trip?
Two years later stranded tourists find the remains of the wreckage, official’s never located. Two bodies, a man’s and a woman’s were in the wreckage.
A shocking revelation that intertwines many who were left behind to grieve.
An outstanding book with an explosive heartfelt plot.


419 reviews6 followers
August 12, 2024
I enjoyed this novel, and plan to read more by the author.
Profile Image for Mary Beth.
198 reviews2 followers
July 10, 2025
Faith and Trust…all lessons we need to have and share
Profile Image for Amy.
Author 2 books160 followers
February 7, 2011
(There is a moderate spoiler after the 3rd paragraph. Not enough to hide the whole review, but enough, that if you are serious about reading the book, you might not want to know ahead of time, though I will try and be vague as possible.)

I feel really bad that I just don't like this author's premises that much, but obviously it doesn't keep me from trying again when a book of hers comes my way. She loves the low country. I love the low country. We have that meeting ground. But honestly, I think we sometimes inhabit two different worlds.

I understand all the angst and drama that surfaced for Belle who lost her beloved husband in a small plane crash two years before this story starts. What I can't understand is the immediate conclusion that this man who shared her heart and life was unfaithful since, when the plane was found, there was also found the body of a woman passenger. I could construct a number of other reasons that would have been plausible. My sympathy while reading the novel was for Knox, and for him to be vindicated. But Knox was dead, and I had to deal with his wife and two kids, and Sophie, the daughter of the dead woman in the plane.

I must say that I think PCH's writing is getting stronger, better defined and more evocative. I'm just not so crazy about some of the characters/stories she creates. I also don't think the occasional secret regarding the past is necessarily a bad thing. It's not everyone's style, but for some people, it's probably better not to let the nightmares out of the closet, or the stuff out of the box. Not all boxes are like Pandora's, with hope at the bottom.

spoiler alert: Do not read beyond this if you don't want a moderate spoiler.

Stop! Spoiler ahead!

I really disliked the treatment of Hurricane Hugo in Sophie's telling of her mom's tale. I lived through that storm, and remember the gratitude that a storm that big was not the killer it could have been here in Charleston. To throw away a life, even fictitiously as an escape from an abusive marriage really irked me.
Profile Image for Katie.
9 reviews
August 12, 2013
SPOILER ALERT

This was a new author for me, but most definitely someone I will continue to read. Firstly, this is an excellent beach read. Set in Marsh Cove, South Carolina, I could completely envision myself in the dunes, on the beach, sitting on Annabelle's front porch, walking down a dock and hearing the waves hit the hulls of the boats. I could see the quaint town of Newboro, complete with the requisite old Southern homes. As for the characters, I really liked Annabelle. I sympathized with her, but at the same time I admired her courage and bravery. I liked Shawn, although I knew he must be in love with Annabelle fairly early in the book. Jake and Keeley were alright, although Jake maybe a tad too , "good". Perhaps that was the southern gentleman coming out in him. Keeley was a brat, but I guess that's how she was supposed to be. I did not like Sophie's character. I felt as though she brought about a lot of drama in the lives of the Murphy's that could have been avoided. She just seemed a tad too...pathetic. I was sorry for her childhood fears, but...didn't quite understand the intense need for secrecy. Never, in all those years, did Liddy know her husband was in jail?? Didn't her mother tell her? Surely she knew? Finally, as for Knox...I don't think he was the hero everyone thought he was. He cheated on his wife, if not physically, than emotionally. Why keep ties after helping Liddy?

Overall, it was a great book. I would definitely recommend it.
Profile Image for Vickie.
1,593 reviews4 followers
August 3, 2016
I really liked The Art of Keeping Secrets by Patti Callahan Henry. It was not just the storyline I liked but I have really come to enjoy the author's style of writing. It just flows so well and it gives me the sensation of just floating along the waters of the southeastern coastline. There is some turbulence along the way, but the ride just makes me feel good.

This story is interesting because two of the main characters are dead, not in a ghost story sort of way, but they are major players in the plot. Infidelity is the major theme but the author leaves it up to the main character, Annabelle Murphy, to chart her own course: to continue to believe in the marriage that was built or to let it all disintegrate in memory. Sophie Milstead is also a major character with an interesting connection to Annabelle.

I really enjoyed this book. Patti Callahan Henry has become one of my favorite authors and I look forward to reading more of her works.

Go Cards! L1C4!!
Profile Image for Kathleen.
1,411 reviews
January 18, 2009
This book just continued to draw me in - the characters, the plot's twists and turns, the author's use of language. Two years after her husband dies flying a small plane, the main character is trying very hard to juggle all her responsibilities as mother, friend, professional while still grieving for the loss of her husband. His plane is found along with the body of a female passenger. Despite their long history together, his reputation as father, friend and husband, his unquestionable professional integrity, the evidence appears he may have been having an affair for 20+ years. The journey that the main character embarks upon forces her to challenge her own thinking, assumptions and beliefs until she answers all the questions surrounding this mystery. The concept of keeping secrets, the sifting through of all the layers surrounding their place in our lives, and the reasons for them have stayed with me since I finished the book several weeks ago.
Profile Image for Radhika.
437 reviews19 followers
December 27, 2012
Annabelle Murphy has lived through her grief for the past two years by seeking solace in bringing up her kids , after her husband dies in a plane crash in Colarado. The plane wreck was never found When she thinks nothing more can hurt her and she is over the worst, comes another shocking news that the plane wreck was found and there was not one but two bodies. Her husband Scott and there was another woman with him. This rocks Annabelle's world fearing that she has lived a lie of a life all along. The basic foundations look shaky.

Sofie Milstead knew who the other woman was on that plane. She was a very quiet person and never let anyone get too close. But when Annabelle and her son appear on her doorstep full of questions , she must face the inevitable and try to unravel the mystery for Annabelle who will find no peace till she finds the truth.

How the two women work through their grief and differences make for an interesting read in this work of fiction
Profile Image for KarCan - Book Addict.
322 reviews4 followers
September 27, 2015
Wow to find out all you knew about your husband was only part of who he was. Such big secrets to keep AND secrets really destroy lives.

I felt for Annabelle but was glad she was not whiny. She wante the truth but when she couldn't get it she moved on knowing it was more important to live for her and her children.

Jake was so wise and Keeley was a typical teenager. Sophie, was ANNOYING. I understand your mom raised you to live in fear, but at some point you need to grow up and realize the world does NOT revolve around you. Others are hurting because of all the secrets and lies and you can't give them the one thing they need.

Does she open up or not? You'll have to read to find out.

I only gave it 4 stars because there was some repetition of comments and points of views. I understand...let's move I screamed a few times. Otherwise good plot, very interesting secret, and wonderful, but realistic ending.
Profile Image for Michelle Ule.
Author 17 books110 followers
December 16, 2020
I read this novel very quickly, so obviously I liked it, but I felt annoyed half the time.

Too many, way too many, coincidences, thin reasons for doing things, and an unlikely series of events.

The dolphin situation didn't feel like it belonged in this story at all and the way everyone immediately jumped to a possible affair really irritated me.

I'm not sure any of these characters--other than the teenage girl--reacted or acted in a logical way.

But, I did read it in two nights, for what it's worth.
Profile Image for Sally.
530 reviews3 followers
April 4, 2017
Annabelle's husband 's plane went down on a hunting trip to Colorado. Three years later some lost hikers find the plane but Knox was not alone, there was a woman in the plane also. Who was she? Why was she in Knox's plane? why did not Annabelle know he was taking someone with him? Did he have a secret life? Was he unfaithful? Was their wonderful life together a lie? Through a great deal of trouble the answers are found. Does everyone have secrets?
Profile Image for Cindy.
248 reviews
February 1, 2018
This book started out good but midway through, it became so melodramatic and repetitive that I couldn't wait to finish it just to find out what the heck happened that was such a big secret! After all that, it was sort of anticlimactic...
Profile Image for Alex Shelby.
45 reviews27 followers
July 17, 2018
It was hard for me to get into this book, but once I did I couldn't put it down. Only 3 stars though b/c the ending was very anti-climatic. I was expecting more of a twist.
Basically, I loved the middle, but the rest of the book didn't do it for me
Profile Image for Darlene Librizzi.
57 reviews2 followers
July 31, 2013
Really did not finish it....skimmed through quickly because it did not hold my interest at all.
Profile Image for Jeanne.
2,173 reviews
April 20, 2018
wasn't too fond of these characters or the husbads secret..it was something he should have shared.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 234 reviews

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