Reviewed by Lorraine Cobcroft for Readers' Favorite

Nikki Lee Taylor says, “The Secrets We Keep is a confronting look at the complexities of a family and the lengths a mother will go to for her child.” While I agree with that statement, I hope very few families are as complex as those she writes about, and very few mothers face the enormous challenges that confront the mothers in her story. But those challenges make for a great story. Out of love and compassion, a young Sophie did something shocking and amazing. Now two women must keep a secret forever because exposing the truth will destroy many lives. Years later, wallowing in grief after losing her husband and only child in a car accident, Sophie is working as an editor. She is asked to edit a manuscript, and the story turns her world upside down and drives her to do the unthinkable. Madelyn-May appears to have everything Sophie could ever dream of with wealth, a perfect husband, beautiful children, a perfect life. But her past has left her broken. And when her shocking secrets come to light, she comes perilously close to losing everything.

The Secrets We Keep is a story that stretches the bounds of fiction. The coincidences are quite incredible. And the way the story is told through first-person narration by different characters and moving back and forth between past and present may make it a little hard to follow at times. But all this is more than adequately compensated for by the superbly descriptive writing and the deeply emotive story. The characters come to life and make you feel their pains and fears, understand their motivations and, out of sympathy, excuse even the inexcusable. Taylor forces you to ask yourself if could you have done better. In their shoes, would you have had the courage to do what they did? Do you love enough that you could go to similar lengths for the people who matter most in your life? This is a page-turner that lovers of great women’s fiction will struggle to put down. The characters, the questions their story raises, and the powerful emotions they stir will stay with you long after you have closed the book. For me, that is the mark of great writing. Nikki Lee Taylor is a master of her craft. I look forward to reading more works by an author who, I predict, will make her mark in the literary world.