Review - The Story Keeper

Title:  The Story Keeper

Author:  Kelly Rimmer

Publisher:  MIRA

Genre:   Historical Fiction 

Format:  Kindle ARC

No. of Pages:   352

Date of Publication:   July 21, 2026

My Rating:   5 Stars

First published July 30, 2025

DESCRIPTION:

In the aftermath of a tumultuous year, Fiona Winslow finds solace in the decaying grandeur of Wurimbirra, the rambling family estate she once called home. Intent on restoring it, she discovers the keys to more than just the dilapidated mansion—beneath the crumbling plaster and dust are secrets that have been buried for a generation.

When a curious book, The Midnight Estate, catches her attention in her late uncle’s library, Fiona is plunged into a tale that mirrors her own—a story of love, loss and betrayal. But as the lines between fiction and reality blur, Fiona must ask herself: Is the true mystery the one hidden within the walls of her ancestral home, or is it within the pages of a book that chose her as much as she chose it?

Told in a dual narrative and set against the Gothic backdrop of Wurimbirra, Kelly Rimmer, bestselling author of The Things We Cannot Say, weaves an intricate and compelling tale, inviting readers into the heart of a family’s deepest secrets with an absorbing book-within-a-book mystery.

Link to purchase the book

MY THOUGHTS:

Fiona Winslow is reeling from the heartbreak of divorce when she returns home to Wurimbirra, Australia. She’s dismayed to find that the family estate, which has stood for generations, has fallen into disrepair. Fiona is a strong woman. So, instead of despairing, Fiona finds purpose. She decides she’s going to restore it and reclaim it as her home.

While making her way through her late uncle’s library, she stumbles on a mysterious box. It’s postmarked November 1999, sent from a UK publisher, and inside are twelve identical copies of a novel called The Midnight Estate by Charity Wilkie. As Fiona settles in to read, she’s flooded with warm memories of her aunt and uncle. Her uncle was an eccentric and popular author as well as a voracious reader who loved nothing more than gifting books to the people he cared about. But twelve copies of the same unfamiliar title? Fiona can’t help but wonder who they were really meant for.

This is where The Story Keeper really comes alive, unfolding as a gorgeous story-within-a-story. The novel Fiona is reading turns out to be steeped in family secrets, loss, betrayal, and a desperate search for truth. The deeper she gets, the more it starts to bleed into her own buried childhood memories, in ways that are honestly a little haunting.

Along with Fiona, I was completely swept up in the story of Maeve, a woman trapped in a devastating, abusive relationship. Her chapters really hit hard. This is a beautifully, hauntingly written gothic novel, and I could not put it down!

Many thanks to MIRA and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kelly Rimmer is the author of historical and contemporary fiction, including The Warsaw Orphan, The Things We Cannot Say and The Secret Daughter, with 3 million books sold. Her books have been translated into dozens of languages and have appeared on bestseller lists around the world, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today.

Since 2022, Kelly has owned and operated Collins Booksellers Orange, the last remaining bookstore in the small regional city she calls home. Her next novel, The Midnight Estate, will be released in Australia, New Zealand and the UK in July 2025.

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