Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I may come back to this later, but listening to the audiobook isn’t ideal. No voice changes and it’s hard to tell who is narrating. Too confusing to fully immerse myself.
I absolutely loved this book! Ostensibly about an unsolved murder and disappearance that happened in 1862, this beautifully told book is really a commentary on time, and how events and people connect, despite seeming unrelated.
The book starts with an archivist, Elodie, finding a satchel with both a photograph of a beautiful woman and an artist’s rendition of a two-gabled house. The house sparks something in Elodie’s memory; something about a fairy tale she was told as a child. She’s drawn to the mystery of the house and the woman in the photograph.
Honestly, Elodie bothered me. She was incredibly naive and seemed to be fond of martyrdom. Thankfully, while the book begins with her, she’s not the main character and is actually in it very little. The main storyline is told from the point of view of Birdie, a clockmaker’s daughter. I can’t say much about her without giving anything away. Suffice it to say, she is an enthralling narrator.
The book follows several different characters living in Birchwood Manor over many years: there’s the widow with three young children; the girl from India; an artist with his muse, and several others. Despite not seeming to have anything in common, their narratives flow together like tributaries in a river, blending into one skillful tale.
The setting is as important as the events that unfold there and is used very skillfully. I was engrossed in this book, even though it’s not a genre I normally get excited over. I will be on the lookout for Kate Morton’s other books. She’s a wonderful weaver of narratives.
If you are able to get your hands on this book, you won’t be disappointed.
https://wittyandsarcasticbookclub.home.blog/2019/01/11/the-clockmakers-daughter-by-kate-morton/
The book starts with an archivist, Elodie, finding a satchel with both a photograph of a beautiful woman and an artist’s rendition of a two-gabled house. The house sparks something in Elodie’s memory; something about a fairy tale she was told as a child. She’s drawn to the mystery of the house and the woman in the photograph.
Honestly, Elodie bothered me. She was incredibly naive and seemed to be fond of martyrdom. Thankfully, while the book begins with her, she’s not the main character and is actually in it very little. The main storyline is told from the point of view of Birdie, a clockmaker’s daughter. I can’t say much about her without giving anything away. Suffice it to say, she is an enthralling narrator.
The book follows several different characters living in Birchwood Manor over many years: there’s the widow with three young children; the girl from India; an artist with his muse, and several others. Despite not seeming to have anything in common, their narratives flow together like tributaries in a river, blending into one skillful tale.
The setting is as important as the events that unfold there and is used very skillfully. I was engrossed in this book, even though it’s not a genre I normally get excited over. I will be on the lookout for Kate Morton’s other books. She’s a wonderful weaver of narratives.
If you are able to get your hands on this book, you won’t be disappointed.
https://wittyandsarcasticbookclub.home.blog/2019/01/11/the-clockmakers-daughter-by-kate-morton/
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I have read and loved everything else Kate Moreton has written and have had this book on pre order for months eagerly waiting for 20 September and release day! I have spent the last week seduced by this beautiful and magical house on a bend in the river in the English countryside. It has felt like a perfect English summer long warm days spent floating in a little boat on the river just lost in this story. This is a long and very cleverly woven together story of the part Birchwood House has played in in the many characters lives down nearly two hundred years. At the heart of the story is the great love affair between Lily and Edward and the mystery of the Radcliffe Blue. Reading this book is like doing a thousand piece jigsaw. I particularly love that bit when you are about two thirds through a jigsaw and the whole thing starts falling into place, the pieces you couldn't make out earlier suddenly make sense - this book is just like that! Story lines that blend together mysteries that become clear. So difficult to write this review without spoilers. It is a very well written and meticulously researched book and I have really loved my week lost in Birchwood Manor with Lily and Lucy, Ada and Tip and Elodie and looking for the Radcliffe Blue. I loved the ending so don't give up on this book. I love gentle sensitive Elodie but what on earth is she doing planning on marrying the invisible Alistair and his controlling mother. Just maybe she will give up her job in the basement and move to the countryside and write this book instead (and no that is not a spoiler)!
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Una vez más Kate Morton lo logra.
Sus libros no decepcionan. Nuevamente nos encontramos con una historia que entrelaza el pasado y el presente.
Sus libros no decepcionan. Nuevamente nos encontramos con una historia que entrelaza el pasado y el presente.
I enjoyed the last half of the book a lot more than the first half. I pushed through even though it was awkward and kind of uninteresting with all of the character changes but I pushed through because I love Kate Morton's other books. The ending is lacking in closure.
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
While I understand that many readers think it's too long, too many unnecessary layers, too this and too that, I love this book just as it is. Because I love old houses and old places, and always daydream about the footsteps I'm walking in. Who was here before me? who lived here before me? what influenced the village, the city, the country, the bend in the river? Kate Morton seems obsessed by the questions like this, and built a book around them. I like what she's done. I have friends in this book.