A SECRET KEPT revolves around a secret in the Rey family that comes to light after a brother and sister visit an island associated with happy family vacations. On her fortieth birthday, Antoine Rey takes his sister, Melanie, to Noirmoutier Island, which Antoine believes will trigger many much-needed happy memories for his little sister. Unhappily single, without children, and recently abandoned by her boy friend, Antoine hopes surrounding Melanie by warm family memories will brighten her birthday. But her trip to Noirmoutier Island awakens a terrible secret Melanie has repressed for years. As they return home from their trip, Melanie attempts to tell Antoine about her childhood memory but loses control of the car.

Antoine and Melanie lost their mother at a young age shortly after a family trip to Noirmoutier Island. But Antoine and Melanie have never been able to fathom why Clarissa Rey's death changed their lives so drastically. Shortly after her death, her devoted husband remarried as if she had never existed, all photos of Clarissa were hidden, and Clarissa's name was never mentioned again. After attempting to question family members about their mother's death, Antoine and Melanie begin to realize that the Rey family wants to erase the memory of Clarissa from their lives.

Melanie's sudden recollection of her childhood memory at Noirmoutier Island will have far reaching consequences into her and her brother's lives. Melanie's secret will not only change how they view their parents and their marriage, but also how they view themselves and the mistakes they have made to self-sabotage their own lives. Antoine Rey was once a successful architect with a bright future, but when the love of his life, Astrid, left him for another man, Antoine fell victim to a spell of self destruction and self pity. Melanie has never been married and is content with the occasional one night stand, but the Rey family secret will bring the ghosts of the past into the lives of the children who were never allowed to learn the truth about their mother.

A SECRET KEPT is a profoundly emotional novel about family relationships. The main focus of the novel is the secret that Melanie remembers, but Tatiana De Rosnay plunges deep into the psyche of her characters. This is not a novel about a dark secret hidden by the hands of time, instead, Tatiana De Rosnay writes her characters around the secret the Rey family hid for years. The author's way of allowing brief glimpses of the past makes the minor characters in the novel as fascinating as the protagonists. Clarissa Rey comes to life as vividly as her children as her tragic story slowly begins to unfold. A SECRET KEPT is an engrossing novel that delivers in every page.

Book Summary

Antoine Rey thought he had the perfect surprise for his sister Mélanie’s birthday: a weekend by the sea at Noirmoutier Island, where the pair spent many happy childhood summers playing on the beach.  It had been too long, Antoine thought, since they’d returned to the island—over thirty years, since their mother died and the family holidays ceased.  But the island’s haunting beauty triggers more than happy memories; it reminds Mélanie of something unexpected and deeply disturbing about their last island summer. 

When, on the drive home to Paris, she finally summons the courage to reveal what she knows to Antoine, her emotions overcome her and she loses control of the car.

Trapped in the wake of a family secret shrouded by taboo, Antoine must confront his past and also his troubled relationships with his own children.  How well does he really know his mother, his children, even himself? 

Suddenly fragile on all fronts – as a son, a husband, a brother and a father – Antoine Rey will soon learn the shocking truth about his family and himself.

By turns thrilling and seductive, with a lingering effect that is bittersweet and redeeming, A Secret Kept is the story of a modern family and the invisible ties that hold it together.