In a rather roundabout manner, I came upon this book title from a book blog–the post was a fancast of this book–if ever it would become a movie. And why not? The plot is endearingly funny and you would want to be best friends with the characters. And this book is my favourite book at the moment.
In The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets, we become acquainted with Penelope, her younger brother Inigo and their mother Talitha, Charlotte, Harry, and his mother Clare, and finally, Marina, Harry’s ex-girlfriend. Penelope meets Charlotte in a very unusual manner, and before she knows it, she becomes best friends with her, and gets acquainted with Harry, Charlotte’s cousin, who convinces her to attend a party with him and Charlotte to make Marina jealous. Hanging out with Harry and Charlotte brought Penelope into a different world that changed her.
Reading this book took me to a different world. Set in 1950s England, the country was still recovering from the effects of the Second World War. Everyone, including Penelope, her family and friends still had to make do with limited resources , as rationing was still on. The 1950s was also a lively time for music, as it was the decade of the birth of rock and roll. Elvis Presley, however, was yet an unknown at that time!
What I loved about this book was that it did not just take me into another era, it gave me a new set of friends–albeit fictional
I give this book five stars.
