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"The Secrets She Keeps" by Deb Caletti From bestselling author Deb Caletti comes a beautiful and profound novel of three women coming to terms with love and marriage. Learn more | See related books
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From the opening pages, it is evident that Gilbert can write with lyricism, confidence, and substance. I was afraid that her mass popularity would lead to a dumbed down book with pandering social/political agendas or telegraphed notions. I am thrilled to conclude that this was not the case. Gilbert is a superb writer who allows her main characters to spring forth as organically as the natural world that they live in. This is a book of well-considered people of the times, who are emblematic of daring and discerning ideas, as well as an absorbing story that will keep the pages flying. The 18th and 19th century comes to life, and botany keeps the composite parts anchored to the earth. It is a both beautiful and intermittently appalling story of humanity and nature.
The book begins with British ex-pat Henry Whittaker, a boy of humble origins, who, by the time he is an adult in the 19th century, turns himself into a captain of industry in the botanical and pharmaceutical industry, particularly quinine. As a boy, he pilfered from the Royal Botanical Kew Gardens and sold to others, and showed his mettle as an entrepreneur. The director, Sir Joseph Banks, eventually apprehended him. Whittaker's penance was to be sent on faraway travels, in order to prove himself worthy and edify himself in the realm of plants.
When Whittaker returned, he made it his life's work to eclipse Banks and become a wealthy self-made industrialist of the natural world. He got himself an educated Dutch wife, left Europe for good, and settled in Western Pennsylvania, where he built an elaborate estate that truly did rival the Kew Gardens, called White Acre. All alike envied his ostentatious mansion on the hill, and were impressed by his breathtaking, unparalleled gardens.Read more ›
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Surprisingly a most enjoyable and very interesting book. I was a skeptic going into the reading based on one book I had previously read by Gilbert. I was pleasantly shocked by the depth of her writing, research and complex thought processes in composing this particular story. The scientific, botanical, and spiritual concepts and research in the novel are impressive. The novel starts in 1760 with the birth of Henry Whittaker born outside London into poverty who as a young boy works his way up in life to become a wealthy world renowned horticulturalist. He marries a Dutch woman, Beatrix Van Devender and they move to Philadelphia with the governess Hanneke de Groot. Henry and Beatix have a child, Alma, and adopt an orphaned child, Prudence. Alma is a naturally curious, scientifically oriented and bright girl. Academics, science, horticulture and the study of nature are her true passions. Men are attracted to her for her mind but not her femininity, or possibly lack thereof, qualities. She becomes a renowned bryologist but her theory of competitive alteration, which closely mirrored Darwin's theory of natural selection, went unpublished. Alma married Ambrose Pike a gifted man who was a botanical illustrator. Ambrose was grappling the concept of earthbound science versus the design of all things by a supreme intelligence. He was attracted to Alma for her mind but not her body. Their marriage fails because Alma cannot reach the spiritual plateau that Ambrose is seeking. He goes to Tahiti and dies. Alma is distraught over his death and the demise of their marriage so she goes to Tahiti to discover the fate of Ambrose's death. There she meets a gentleman, Tomorrow Morning, who helps her understand more about Ambrose and the man they both loved.Read more ›
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I resisted reading this book for months after I'd first heard about it. I was so worried that I would be bored to death by the botanical observations. I have to admit that descriptions of the natural world just put me to sleep. However, Alma Whittaker is the saving grace here. There is something about her character which made me root for her all the way through. The book swept me away. I read it in about three to four days and nearly half of it in one session. Gilbert uses a suspenseful tone to this work. I, for one, found the book hard to put down at times.
The most boring section of the book for me was at the beginning when Gilbert introduces Alma's father, Henry, and goes into great detail about his importing and exporting. If I hadn't read some reviews and known that the book was going to get better, I might have given up early on. I enjoy reading about family life and romantic life so when I learned about Alma and her thorny relationships within the family, her romantic desires, and her great love for the natural world (by the way, the descriptions of moss weren't nearly as boring as I'd thought they would be) I was swept away. There are enough plot twists to keep a reader interested.
This book is by no means traditional in concept. Many 19-century stories are far more predictable--a young woman, burdened by Victorian principles, is able to find her way, meet the perfect man, and live happily ever after. Although Gilbert's story reads like a fairy tale sometimes especially in Tahiti where the natives make for a very exciting, suspenseful (and sometimes rather hilarious) read, this is no cookie-cutter romance. It's a tragedy with a great deal of hope in it. Alma is a plucky woman. She doesn't let the circumstances of her life get her down for long.Read more ›
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