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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
4 1/2 stars - really enjoyed this book, which kept the suspense up right until the final chapters. Interesting use of characters across different time periods and how they interlinked; based around the main “character” of the house - Birchwood.
This is a long book with lots of characters, so be ready to dive in. Enjoy!
This is a long book with lots of characters, so be ready to dive in. Enjoy!
Normally I like non-linear narratives, but the effect here is rather marred by repetitiveness that can get boring. It would be greatly improved if the author just trusted in our ability to remember the (not that complicated) plot. I kept reading until the end just to find out the conclusion of the mystery, but even that went on too long. Would have been better as a 300 pager, rather than 500+
Kate Morton is a wonderful writer and Joanne Froggatt is a wonderful reader but I struggled getting through this book. The story itself is extremely interesting; the mystery and having to know what happened to Lily kept me pushing through but the transitions between character's POVs felt jarring. There were SO many characters, the uneasiness of the transitions made it difficult for me to keep track of who was who. I would recommend this book because it's worth a read but go in knowing you have to be completely awake and alert every time you pick it up otherwise it's easy to get lost.
First book of 2021 finished and started off with such a great book. I love Kate Morton. I love how she weaves her stories. Such a great story teller.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
I really enjoyed this. At first, I found it difficult to jump between times and characters and grasp what was happening when. I alsowish the book ended with Elodie unearthing Birdie’s true identity.
I love Kate Morton and was really excited that there was a new book out, so I'm sad to admit that this wasn't for me. I nearly gave up several times throughout the book, and it took me a whole month to get through it! I must admit that I skimmed through quite a lot of the second half of the book since it was just sooo slow paced.
The mystery wasn't really that exciting, and I didn't get the same connection with the characters that I usually get when reading Kate Morton's books.
The mystery wasn't really that exciting, and I didn't get the same connection with the characters that I usually get when reading Kate Morton's books.
I've been a long time fan of Kate Morton. I know that might be surprising to most of you as I haven't mentioned Morton's other books before, but trust me. I am.
I read Kate Morton's book back when I was in high school. My mom was a big fan of them and, instead of giving away the books, she handed them down to me. Since then I'm not sure where exactly they've gone, but I remember devouring each book late at night hoping that my mom or dad wouldn't wake up and realize that the light in their daughter's room was still on.
Morton does a great job of braiding multiple storylines in different eras together. Each one of her books (The Forgotten Garden, The Secret Keeper, The House at Riverton, and The Lake House among a handful of others I have yet to read) begins with a generations old mystery. Maybe someone's dying grandmother finally decided to share her secret, but passed away before the full story was told. Maybe there is a dilapidated house in the middle of a small, cozy town that once was the height of luxury, but some unknown event caused the family inside to spiral and the house soon followed. Maybe its a murder that was never solved. Regardless of what exactly sets her stories in motion, Morton has a knack for sucking her readers into the mystery and, so far, each book I've read has surprised me in one way or another at that twist ending.
So, how does The Clockmaker's Daughter measure up? Well, its just as full of twists and turns as her previous books, but Morton ups her game one more. Instead of weaving between modern day and one era, Morton includes several different time periods revolving around one house in a small village in the British countryside.
Readers get to meet Elodie, an archivist in modern day London; Edward and Birdie, an artist and his muse, in 1862; Leonard, a WWI survivor and biographer from the early 1920s; Tip and his family, escaping the Blitz. There is a wide cast of characters, something that some readers might (and did according to some of the Goodreads reviews) have trouble following, but the way that each story line intersected helped me keep the stories straight.
The main revolving storyline involves a murder and the theft of the famous Radcliffe Blue. The story that has been universally accepted was that Edward's muse, lovingly nicknamed Birdie, had stolen the Radcliffe Blue (think Titanic) and escaped with her brother to America leaving Edward heartbroken and penniless. What followed were centuries of guilt, regret, and sadness. However, thanks to the ghosts left behind in the house where it all happened, there might be proof that everything isn't as it seems. But I don't want to spoil the enjoyment for you guys.
My take: if you haven't been paying attention, I enjoyed this book. However, there were a couple of things that I did have issues with and mostly it had to do with the first character we're truly introduced to: Elodie.
Elodie's story-line is what kicks this book into gear. She finds the satchel that includes Edward's sketchbook and a picture of the elusive Birdie, but oh my god Elodie is so boring. Her main problem is that she's getting married to a man named Alistair (which side note never marry a man named Alistair. He just sounds like a boring or bad dude. Side side note sorry to any Alistair's that read my blog. You aren't boring or bad). Ok, getting married isn't that bad, but she spends a majority of her chapters telling the readers about different terrible quirks Alistair has and it's pretty strongly implied that Elodie does not even like the dude. In the entirety of the book I think she interacts with him once and its via a phone call. We don't even meet the guy.
I don't expect every female character I read to be this feminine icon, but Elodie was so much the opposite of every other female character in The Clockmaker's Daughter. She kind of falls into this engagement with this man who seems more in love with her famous, dead mother (yeah, you heard me) than Elodie herself. Even Alistair's mother is more interested in this dead woman. Every wedding decision thrown at Elodie is met with indifference and apathy. When she finds this satchel and photo she abandons everything: wedding, fiance, life in London.
It just seemed to me that all of Elodie's relationships were kind of half-assed. She's supposedly in love with this man enough to get engaged to him, but not enough in love to put any effort into planning their wedding. Her mother's death is this event that's described as though it shook the foundations of the family, but, aside from the fact that Elodie mentions her father cries pretty much any time her mother's name is mentioned, she doesn't really feel that loss either. In a book full of so many full, breathing, and rich characters, Elodie's whole story just falls flat for me. Luckily, aside from the first section and a handful of chapters at the end, she doesn't take up too much time in the book so I only have to roll my eyes at Alistair and Elodie's doomed relationships for a little bit.
Final thoughts: This book does have its flaws (don't we all?), but overall I really enjoyed this book. Yes, it took a couple of chapters for me to really get into the story, but the interwoven stories all revolving around one ghost of a memory in one house really sucked me into the story. Honestly, this book felt like a roller coaster. There was an excruciatingly slow build up that crested over the hill and sped toward its conclusion.
Long story short:
You can have a good book with a lot of characters.
Apparently someone found that stone in the middle of the ocean
Dead women can still tell tales
My Rating: 4/5
(Read more of my reviews on my website: https://eherrman322.wixsite.com/theliterarysomething)
I read Kate Morton's book back when I was in high school. My mom was a big fan of them and, instead of giving away the books, she handed them down to me. Since then I'm not sure where exactly they've gone, but I remember devouring each book late at night hoping that my mom or dad wouldn't wake up and realize that the light in their daughter's room was still on.
Morton does a great job of braiding multiple storylines in different eras together. Each one of her books (The Forgotten Garden, The Secret Keeper, The House at Riverton, and The Lake House among a handful of others I have yet to read) begins with a generations old mystery. Maybe someone's dying grandmother finally decided to share her secret, but passed away before the full story was told. Maybe there is a dilapidated house in the middle of a small, cozy town that once was the height of luxury, but some unknown event caused the family inside to spiral and the house soon followed. Maybe its a murder that was never solved. Regardless of what exactly sets her stories in motion, Morton has a knack for sucking her readers into the mystery and, so far, each book I've read has surprised me in one way or another at that twist ending.
So, how does The Clockmaker's Daughter measure up? Well, its just as full of twists and turns as her previous books, but Morton ups her game one more. Instead of weaving between modern day and one era, Morton includes several different time periods revolving around one house in a small village in the British countryside.
Readers get to meet Elodie, an archivist in modern day London; Edward and Birdie, an artist and his muse, in 1862; Leonard, a WWI survivor and biographer from the early 1920s; Tip and his family, escaping the Blitz. There is a wide cast of characters, something that some readers might (and did according to some of the Goodreads reviews) have trouble following, but the way that each story line intersected helped me keep the stories straight.
The main revolving storyline involves a murder and the theft of the famous Radcliffe Blue. The story that has been universally accepted was that Edward's muse, lovingly nicknamed Birdie, had stolen the Radcliffe Blue (think Titanic) and escaped with her brother to America leaving Edward heartbroken and penniless. What followed were centuries of guilt, regret, and sadness. However, thanks to the ghosts left behind in the house where it all happened, there might be proof that everything isn't as it seems. But I don't want to spoil the enjoyment for you guys.
My take: if you haven't been paying attention, I enjoyed this book. However, there were a couple of things that I did have issues with and mostly it had to do with the first character we're truly introduced to: Elodie.
Elodie's story-line is what kicks this book into gear. She finds the satchel that includes Edward's sketchbook and a picture of the elusive Birdie, but oh my god Elodie is so boring. Her main problem is that she's getting married to a man named Alistair (which side note never marry a man named Alistair. He just sounds like a boring or bad dude. Side side note sorry to any Alistair's that read my blog. You aren't boring or bad). Ok, getting married isn't that bad, but she spends a majority of her chapters telling the readers about different terrible quirks Alistair has and it's pretty strongly implied that Elodie does not even like the dude. In the entirety of the book I think she interacts with him once and its via a phone call. We don't even meet the guy.
I don't expect every female character I read to be this feminine icon, but Elodie was so much the opposite of every other female character in The Clockmaker's Daughter. She kind of falls into this engagement with this man who seems more in love with her famous, dead mother (yeah, you heard me) than Elodie herself. Even Alistair's mother is more interested in this dead woman. Every wedding decision thrown at Elodie is met with indifference and apathy. When she finds this satchel and photo she abandons everything: wedding, fiance, life in London.
It just seemed to me that all of Elodie's relationships were kind of half-assed. She's supposedly in love with this man enough to get engaged to him, but not enough in love to put any effort into planning their wedding. Her mother's death is this event that's described as though it shook the foundations of the family, but, aside from the fact that Elodie mentions her father cries pretty much any time her mother's name is mentioned, she doesn't really feel that loss either. In a book full of so many full, breathing, and rich characters, Elodie's whole story just falls flat for me. Luckily, aside from the first section and a handful of chapters at the end, she doesn't take up too much time in the book so I only have to roll my eyes at Alistair and Elodie's doomed relationships for a little bit.
Final thoughts: This book does have its flaws (don't we all?), but overall I really enjoyed this book. Yes, it took a couple of chapters for me to really get into the story, but the interwoven stories all revolving around one ghost of a memory in one house really sucked me into the story. Honestly, this book felt like a roller coaster. There was an excruciatingly slow build up that crested over the hill and sped toward its conclusion.
Long story short:
You can have a good book with a lot of characters.
Apparently someone found that stone in the middle of the ocean
Dead women can still tell tales
My Rating: 4/5
(Read more of my reviews on my website: https://eherrman322.wixsite.com/theliterarysomething)
I like this writer's words and the atmospherics. This seems one of the more complicated stories as the reader is asked to jump in and out of perspective, timeline and character. I look forward to her next book!
Terrific tale. If you’re agreeable to the “ghost” aspect, the story connects multiple timelines, realistic characters and an engaging plot to tell a unique, entertaining story.