Review: The Secret by Kathryn Hughes

From the #1 bestselling author of The Letter comes The Secret - a heartbreaking novel of tragedy, hope and second chances. Fans of Jojo Moyes and Amanda Prowse will love the moving human drama of Kathryn Hughes. 'A wonderful uplifting story' Lesley Pearse on The Letter

Mary has been nursing a secret. Forty years ago, she made a choice that would change her world for ever, and alter the path of someone she holds dear.

Beth is searching for answers. She has never known the truth about her parentage, but finding out could be the lifeline her sick child so desperately needs. When Beth finds a faded newspaper cutting amongst her mother's things, she realises the key to her son's future lies in her own past. She must go back to where it all began to unlock...The Secret.

Shona's review 5 of 5 stars

This story unfolds in two different decades. The tale begins in 1975 with Mary, waiting for the doctors appointment that will tell her if she is about to become a mum. And continues in 2016 with Beth and Michael coming back from Beth's mums funeral. Their little boy is seriously ill and they are desperately looking for pieces of information that may lead them to Beths dad in the hope that he can offer up a kidney that will save their son Jake. They find a letter in amongst her mums belongings which takes the story to 1976 and uncovers a secret that has been kept hidden for 40  years.

The Secret is laced with tragedy with the loss of husbands, daughters, and fathers, but it is also a tale of love, of the mothers who care for the sons and daughters that don't have a mother or father to care for them. And Hughes has written this book so brilliantly that it is effortless, reading it is so easy that it is possible to read this in a day without realising. Which is what I did. So utterly caught between the pages that I couldn't bare to drag myself away. This is my first book by Hughes, but I am already a fan of her writing and am keen to read more from her.