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It's taken me a bit longer to finish this book but I'm so glad I did. The book started off slow and a bit confusing to me since there are multiple points of view, across multiple time frames. But once I got the hang of it, it would draw me in to read for long stretches at a time. This keeps you wondering and hoping right up until the last few pages. It's a sad, but wonderful story.
I ran out of time before the book was due back to the library. 84 % completed and must admit I'm very confused . Will have to get back to this one and perhaps start from the beginning .
This is a hard review to write because Kate Morton is one of my favorite authors. The Forgotten Garden is one of my all-time favorite novels and I have enjoyed all of the Kate Morton novels that I have read .... until The Clockmaker's Daughter. I was so excited when I learned that I had won an advanced reader copy of this book and started reading as soon as the book arrived in the mail. Imagine my disappointment when I just didn't enjoy the story. I set it aside several times and finally borrowed a copy of the audiobook. I was able to get through the audiobook, but I can't say that I enjoyed the experience. The story just didn't grab me. I think that it may be that the story is just told from too many perspectives along too many timelines. While Kate Morton is very good at writing multiple timelines and melding them seamlessly, it just wasn't working for me this time.
This kept me engaged until close to the end — I thought the plot was more surprising and less predictable than the Lake House. I really enjoyed reading Elodie and Lily/Birdie’s perspectives much more than the other characters. Elodie and Lily felt more complex than the rest of the characters, who fell flat next to them. Lily’s modern sections made for particularly interesting reading, and I wish more had been done from there.
he Clockmaker's Daughter was a DNF for me - my first official DNF since joining bookstagram. And the ironic part of that is Kate Morton is an author I have read and thoroughly enjoyed previously.
Here are my thoughts: I'm a character-driven reader first and foremost. If the plot becomes the focus and the characters are only used to further along the plot - that's where books lose me.
Sometimes a plot-focused novel CAN develop their characters and create characters that the readers are invested in, this is no such novel. I made it a little past halfway and had yet to care, be intrigued by, or eager to learn more about any of the M.A.N.Y different characters. In addition to this problem was there were just too many plot lines. I get it, I've enjoyed this formula before by her and others but there were just too many. And to reiterate, I am all for a complicated or intricate plot (I'm all for the "work") IF the characters are interesting or intriguing.
I can't give Kate Morton a bad rating because her writing is beautiful but this book was just not her best in my opinion. I can't even imagine what her writing room looked like to keep all the plot lines and characters straight - authors are amazing.
Here are my thoughts: I'm a character-driven reader first and foremost. If the plot becomes the focus and the characters are only used to further along the plot - that's where books lose me.
Sometimes a plot-focused novel CAN develop their characters and create characters that the readers are invested in, this is no such novel. I made it a little past halfway and had yet to care, be intrigued by, or eager to learn more about any of the M.A.N.Y different characters. In addition to this problem was there were just too many plot lines. I get it, I've enjoyed this formula before by her and others but there were just too many. And to reiterate, I am all for a complicated or intricate plot (I'm all for the "work") IF the characters are interesting or intriguing.
I can't give Kate Morton a bad rating because her writing is beautiful but this book was just not her best in my opinion. I can't even imagine what her writing room looked like to keep all the plot lines and characters straight - authors are amazing.
Initially when I started reading this book I found the different characters’ stories confusing and there did not seem to be much link between the stories. It is like Kate Morton’s other novels about a character in more modern times discovering the story of someone in the past (through a bag) who was almost entirely forgotten and who had false rumours spread about her during her lifetime. The woman in modern times ends up finding out the truth but also finding out that she is a different person than she thought. However, once I was about halfway through the connections between the different characters started to come together and the story ended up being really good. Having read a lot of Kate Morton’s other novels, I can say some may prefer her other novels which are clearer in the connections between the characters and have a faster-paced plot. Yet, if you have the patience to read on past the first part you may find like I did, that you really enjoy the story.
This was such a highly anticipated book for me, but I ended up putting it off until we read it for my book club this August! I loved The Clockmaker's Daughter, although it was by far Kate Morton's most ambitious book and, as a result, a little bit more complex than some of her others. Most of her novels jump between three different time periods, maybe four, but Clockmaker's Daughter had at least five if not more which made things a little bit more convoluted. As always, the writing was lush and vivid and I loved tying the threads together and watching the mystery unfold. I loved the character of Birdie Bell, how she was such a different narrator than other Kate Morton books we've seen, and the main character Elodie was also delightful. I will read anything Kate Morton writes and I'm waiting impatiently for the announcement of her next book!
I listened to this on Audible, and I kind of wish I’d read the actual book. I got lost a few times in the audiobook, maybe reading would make it easier to follow the story the whole time.
I have liked Kate Morton for some years now and it had been a while since I read something from her.
As usual, her style is beautiful, with dreamy descriptions and the characters are just right.
The ending was bittersweet for me. It was credible to the story, and it was a well done ending. But my feelings. Auch.
As usual, her style is beautiful, with dreamy descriptions and the characters are just right.
The ending was bittersweet for me. It was credible to the story, and it was a well done ending. But my feelings. Auch.