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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
3.5 stars, rounded up to 4
Overall this book was a very enjoyable read and very well written. Kate Morton is incredible at writing a novel poetically. I was enthralled in trying to predict the outcome of the chaos surrounding each character’s life. I was correct in predicting that Polly was baby Thea all along. I knew it!!! However, I had suspected that Nora was more sinisterly involved…
That being said, here a couple reasons I knocked off one star/miscellaneous discussion points
1. Jess is next of kin… but the hospital can’t call an international phone number? Maybe I’m just uninformed, but this seemed wild to me considering that this takes place in 2018. They really wouldn’t find any way to make the call? Very odd.
2. Jess, knowing that the hospital has issues with her phone, ignores the phone ringing in Darling House… again, KNOWING that the hospital plans to call the house if there are any issues. Huh?!
3. The “smothering.” We kept getting these hints that Nora was potentially fabricating these stories of Isabel & Polly smothering their babies. Polly couldn’t remember it happening, Nora randomly remembers Isabel doing this after initial interviews, etc. It seems potentially that Nora thought this was a way of justifying her claim to Polly/Thea, and then used this lie(?) again to justify taking Jess. Mixed with the hints that Jess’s memories had been manipulated to remember Nora rather than Polly, I expected more closure here. This is what makes me still suspect that Nora isn’t as “innocent” as she seems. Not sure that I think she was involved in the murder, but at the very least I think there’s more here that wasn’t unpacked. Perhaps she knew more of the truth than she let on… would match with the rest of her character arc that’s for sure.
4. Jess ended up feeling like a placeholder between eras. We don’t get much info on her life beyond the basics. Maybe this is meant to allow the reader to insert themselves in her place… the more vague she is as the story deepens, the more we can insert ourselves into her story?
5. Though I love books that jump between time periods to illustrate what happened, I wasn’t a huge fan of the “book” within a book. It was quite extensive, and took up much of the text which is part of what left Jess feeling a little flat. She didn’t analyze much, we just read the book over her shoulder. The mystery sort of just unraveled in her lap.
6. I understood the effect Morton was aiming for, but it felt a bit strange to rewrite previous scenes with new inner monologue. It seemed as if the characters were actively lying in their prior thoughts, which doesn’t make much sense. I’m not meaning the “book” chapters, I mean the actual memories of the Summers family. For example, the carved Wren wasn’t for Meg at all… it was for Isabel the whole time? Why in his own inner thoughts would Percy lie about that? It was a cool idea but the technique takes away from the characters that have already been observed and drastically changes their tone so abruptly that it doesn’t feel like a natural arc. It was well written, but a bit jarring.
7. Even in “present day” we spend a lot of time in memories and flashbacks. There are times where it seems a bit excessive, flashing back and forth numerous times in a matter of pages. This made the book a bit of a slow start for me, but once you get into the rhythm it feels a bit less chaotic.
Despite these points, this book is just so beautifully written that I couldn’t help but read on. I’ll definitely be reaching for Kate Morton again in the future.
Overall this book was a very enjoyable read and very well written. Kate Morton is incredible at writing a novel poetically. I was enthralled in trying to predict the outcome of the chaos surrounding each character’s life. I was correct in predicting that Polly was baby Thea all along. I knew it!!! However, I had suspected that Nora was more sinisterly involved…
That being said, here a couple reasons I knocked off one star/miscellaneous discussion points
1. Jess is next of kin… but the hospital can’t call an international phone number? Maybe I’m just uninformed, but this seemed wild to me considering that this takes place in 2018. They really wouldn’t find any way to make the call? Very odd.
2. Jess, knowing that the hospital has issues with her phone, ignores the phone ringing in Darling House… again, KNOWING that the hospital plans to call the house if there are any issues. Huh?!
3. The “smothering.” We kept getting these hints that Nora was potentially fabricating these stories of Isabel & Polly smothering their babies. Polly couldn’t remember it happening, Nora randomly remembers Isabel doing this after initial interviews, etc. It seems potentially that Nora thought this was a way of justifying her claim to Polly/Thea, and then used this lie(?) again to justify taking Jess. Mixed with the hints that Jess’s memories had been manipulated to remember Nora rather than Polly, I expected more closure here. This is what makes me still suspect that Nora isn’t as “innocent” as she seems. Not sure that I think she was involved in the murder, but at the very least I think there’s more here that wasn’t unpacked. Perhaps she knew more of the truth than she let on… would match with the rest of her character arc that’s for sure.
4. Jess ended up feeling like a placeholder between eras. We don’t get much info on her life beyond the basics. Maybe this is meant to allow the reader to insert themselves in her place… the more vague she is as the story deepens, the more we can insert ourselves into her story?
5. Though I love books that jump between time periods to illustrate what happened, I wasn’t a huge fan of the “book” within a book. It was quite extensive, and took up much of the text which is part of what left Jess feeling a little flat. She didn’t analyze much, we just read the book over her shoulder. The mystery sort of just unraveled in her lap.
6. I understood the effect Morton was aiming for, but it felt a bit strange to rewrite previous scenes with new inner monologue. It seemed as if the characters were actively lying in their prior thoughts, which doesn’t make much sense. I’m not meaning the “book” chapters, I mean the actual memories of the Summers family. For example, the carved Wren wasn’t for Meg at all… it was for Isabel the whole time? Why in his own inner thoughts would Percy lie about that? It was a cool idea but the technique takes away from the characters that have already been observed and drastically changes their tone so abruptly that it doesn’t feel like a natural arc. It was well written, but a bit jarring.
7. Even in “present day” we spend a lot of time in memories and flashbacks. There are times where it seems a bit excessive, flashing back and forth numerous times in a matter of pages. This made the book a bit of a slow start for me, but once you get into the rhythm it feels a bit less chaotic.
Despite these points, this book is just so beautifully written that I couldn’t help but read on. I’ll definitely be reaching for Kate Morton again in the future.
mysterious
medium-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
It was good and I liked the twists but it was slow read. It took me forever to read. A little too much detail.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
slow-paced
“Home, she’d realized, wasn’t a place or a time or a person, though it could be any and all of those things; home was a feeling, a sense of being complete.”
4+ stars. Another winner from Kate Morton. Paced a bit slower than typical KM for me in the middle, though the satisfying ending made up for it. Overall though, a beautifully written, atmospheric, and intricately plotted story I devoured.
4+ stars. Another winner from Kate Morton. Paced a bit slower than typical KM for me in the middle, though the satisfying ending made up for it. Overall though, a beautifully written, atmospheric, and intricately plotted story I devoured.
emotional
reflective
relaxing
slow-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:
Yes
This is a story, within a story, within a story. I love Kate Morton's books but this one took me a while to get into. Each story is extremely detailed, a little too detailed in my opinion as it takes away from the main plot somewhat. However, once I'd finished it, I wanted to go back and read it all over again, to really understand how all the details lead to the conclusion. It's so long that I found myself flicking back to find details that I'd forgotten as the story develops. I would definitely recommend it, perhaps not if you only read a little each night, like me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I absolutely loved this book. The first book I have read in a long time that kept me up at night reading. I loved the descriptions of the scenery, the moving between past and present, the depth of the characters. A joy to read.
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Enthralling, I guessed the twist but it wasn’t too obvious. Dragged on a bit