Books where the main character keeps a secret from the reader?

[dadioflex]

Originally Posted by K. Molen

A story with an omniscient 3rd person unreliable narrator that doesn't outright lie to the reader.

Third person, present tense would cover you. Don't chance any kind of "narrator" or insight, just show everything the characters do, thereby leaving the clues in their actions. No deceit necessary.

I love unreliable narrators, being one, but I think it would confuse matters here where all you're really doing is setting up a twist.

A disembodied unreliable narrator makes no sense to me.

[Catlady]

Spoiler:

Mary Stewart's The Ivy Tree.

[elemenoP]

I can't think of an example that fits exactly what you're talking about, but I just wanted to say that I would love to read something like this. So go for it!

eP

[jasoraso]

I think that the Young Adult novel

Spoiler:

http://www.amazon.com/The-False-Prin...8485067&sr=8-1The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen

fits the bill as to what you describing

[usuallee]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

I'm wondering if Shutter Island by Denise Lehane would fit.

Excellent book. Also check out Gentleman & Players by Joanne Harris. Both books made my jaw drop!

[curtw]

Never mind--see next post

[curtw]

Oh wait, now I've got a great one (and a classic, at that):

Spoiler:

Random Harvest, by James Hilton.

Just don't see the movie first, because the "hidden truth" is revealed about halfway through, where the book gives it to you in the last paragraph. As an added bonus, the reader also discovers that they've been tracking the wrong "main character."

Of course, now that you know that any book falls into your desired category, any surprise is going to be "pre-spoiled" because you'll be looking for it throughout the text...

[colinsky]

Spoiler:

Presumed Innocent, by Scott Turrow.

[curtw]

Originally Posted by colinsky

Spoiler:

Presumed Innocent, by Scott Turrow.

I had considered that one, but went back to the mission statement about "main character." In your example, the character isn't the protagonist, but rather a supporting character. That's why I wracked my brain so hard, and my example isn't much better. You spend most of the book thinking that the story is "about" one of the characters, but the revelation at the end lets you know that the one who matters is somebody else...

[K. Molen]

Wow! Thanks for all the comments. It's much appreciated. As to curtw's point about not spoiling it for me, I'll make sure to find out the twist before reading any of these books, as I'm treating them more like case studies than anything. I realize that I'm robbing myself of some good reading experiences, but them's the breaks.

Thanks again!

[Catlady]

Not books, but I'm thinking of old Alfred Hitchcock Presents programs that sometimes pulled the rug out from under the viewer at the end. One such is "Man with a Problem," with Gary Merrill as a man threatening to jump from a window ledge.