jennitarheelreader 's review for:

The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton
5.0

4.5 sublime stars to The Clockmaker’s Daughter! 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟.5

Told in multiple storylines, the first is set in 1862. Edward Radcliffe, an esteemed artist, organizes a group of other young artists to holiday at Birchwood Manor on the Thames. Their objective is to laze away the summer among inspiration and exercising their creativity. What happens instead is a murder, a disappearance, and a missing heirloom.

In the present, Elodie Winslow is an archivist living in London. She runs across two items that she cannot shake, a photograph of an alluring woman and a drawing of a house on a river. Somehow Elodie feels connected to these objects. But how?

I’m a fan of Kate Morton. It started with The Forgotten Garden and never ended. Her books are long, they are in rich in details, and it takes some time to wade through; but the experience is like wading through the most pristine, sheer tropical blue waters, enveloped in glorious details that enrich the story and do not detract or weigh down (or push back) the delight.

It especially takes some time for the pieces of The Clockmaker’s Daughter to take shape and fall in line. But when they do, the pace quickens, and the story is as engaging as one would hope. It’s a murder mystery with wholesome and resonant themes of love and loss. Someone special, alluded to in the synopsis, witnessed all that has happened at Birchwood Manor over the years. She knows its harbored secrets and its most seductive love. The writing is insightful and unforgettable (many passages to highlight!). Will Birchwood Manor ever shed its shroud of secrets?

Thank you to Atria Books for the physical copy. I was absolutely elated to receive a copy in the mail! All opinions are my own.

I read this sublime book with five book friends: Melisa, Holly, Berit, Mackenzie, and Kendall. What an experience it was!