The Secret cover art

The Secret

The Number One Best-Selling Author of The Letter

Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

The Secret

By: Kathryn Hughes
Narrated by: Rachel Atkins
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Only £0.99 a month for the first 3 months. Pay £0.99 for the first 3 months, and £8.99/month thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Start my membership

About this listen

The best-selling author returns with her second novel, The Secret - a beautiful, tear-jerking novel which will be cherished by all those thousands of fans who lost their hearts to The Letter.

From the Number One best-selling author of The Letter comes The Secret - a heart-breaking novel of tragedy, hope and second chances. Fans of Jojo Moyes and Amanda Prowse will love the moving human drama of Kathryn Hughes.

Mary has been nursing a secret.

Forty years ago, she made a choice that would change her world for ever, and alter the path of someone she holds dear.

Beth is searching for answers. She has never known the truth about her parentage, but finding out could be the lifeline her sick child so desperately needs. When Beth finds a faded newspaper cutting amongst her mother's things, she realises the key to her son's future lies in her own past. She must go back to where it all began to unlock...the Secret.

©2016 Kathryn Hughes (P)2016 Headline Publishing Group Limited
Fiction Genre Fiction Psychological Women's Fiction Heartfelt Tear-jerking

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Key cover art
The Forgotten Locket cover art
The Memory Box: A heart-breaking historical novel set partly in World War Two, inspired by true events, from the global bestselling author cover art
The Letter cover art
The Girl in the Letter: A home for unwed mothers; a heartbreaking secret in this historical bestseller inspired by true events cover art
The Midwife's Secret cover art
The Missing Daughter cover art
There's Something I Have to Tell You cover art
The Lost Daughter of Liverpool cover art
Winter Garden cover art
Owl Song at Dawn cover art
A Mother's Story cover art
Blind cover art
One Moonlit Night cover art
The Delving cover art
The Well of Eternity: Blizzard Legends cover art
All stars
Most relevant
it normally tans me an age to get through one audio book but I did this one in a few days... brilliant chiming of a good book read by someone whose voice doesn't masher toy want to abandon it

fantastically written and narrated

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

My first impression was that i had made an error with this book - female author, main characters female, narrator female and initially i thought the style fit with my reactions. I was so wrong. Wonderfully plotted, rich in characters and so well constructed. Kept me turning pages. Searching for more of Kathryn Hughes. And... a great narration. Worthy of my rarely given five stars.

A surprising listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I absolutely loved it. After months of ignoring Audible's 'suggestion' of this book based entirely on the dreadful and tacky cover I finally relented and loved this book.
The narration is good, the plot is interesting and kept me listening (although a slightly predictible end... I would have been sad if it hadn't worked out like that so really, they couldn't win!)
I would highly recommend this book, a lovely way to pass a few hours and I would love to hear more.

Don't judge a book by its cover!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I was particularly drawn in by the narrator Rachel Atkins who spoke with such feeling and used believable accents which encouraged me to fall in love with the characters. I felt drawn in to the story and enjoyed every chapter. Great read for anyone who enjoys heartwarming tragedies. Can't wait for Kathryn Hughes next book!!

I really loved this book!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I really enjoyed this story, had some good twists in it and was a lovely story that was beautifully narrated. Loved every word, can highly recommend.

Loved it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews