The House at Riverton
Books | Fiction / General
3.8
(928)
Kate Morton
From the author of #1 international bestseller The Forgotten Garden and New York Times bestseller Homecoming comes a gorgeous novel set in England between World War I and World War II. Perfect for fans of Downton Abbey, it is the story of an aristocratic family, a house, a mysterious death and a way of life that vanished forever, told in flashback by a woman who witnessed it all and kept a secret for decades.Grace Bradley went to work at Riverton House as a servant when she was just a girl, before the First World War. For years her life was inextricably tied up with the Hartford family, most particularly the two daughters, Hannah and Emmeline. In the summer of 1924, at a glittering society party held at the house, a young poet shot himself. The only witnesses were Hannah and Emmeline and only they—and Grace—know the truth. In 1999, when Grace is ninety-eight years old and living out her last days in a nursing home, she is visited by a young director who is making a film about the events of that summer. She takes Grace back to Riverton House and reawakens her memories. Told in flashback, this is the story of Grace's youth during the last days of Edwardian aristocratic privilege shattered by war, of the vibrant twenties and the changes she witnessed as an entire way of life vanished forever. The novel is full of secrets—some revealed, others hidden forever, reminiscent of the romantic suspense of Daphne du Maurier. It is also a meditation on memory, the devastation of war and a beautifully rendered window into a fascinating time in history. Kate Morton’s first novel, originally published to critical acclaim in Australia, and quickly becoming a #1 bestseller in England, The House at Riverton is a vivid, page-turning novel of suspense and passion, with characters—and an ending—readers won't soon forget.
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More Details:
Author
Kate Morton
Pages
496
Publisher
Simon and Schuster
Published Date
2009-03-03
ISBN
1416550534 9781416550532
Ratings
Google: 3
Community ReviewsSee all
"I enjoyed this book as it did keep me guessing as to what really took place at the House at Riverton! It's told from the perspective of Grace a former maid at the house. It's part historical fiction part mystery and I had a difficult time putting it down. I give it a 4.5/5"
A J
Andrea Jaffray
"This is a scant three stars for me. After The Lake House I was disappointed at the lack of actual mystery here. The book is almost entirely the remembrances of Grace, a servant at Riverton House in the 1910s and 1920s, when she is about to die in 1999. We know that a poet killed himself at Riverton in 1924 - except Grace knows what REALLY happened. In a way the whole book leads up to what happened, but even I, a person who thinks Lord is the Rings is perfectly paced, found this book unaccountably slow. Perhaps that stems from my strong dislike of stories where you feel a sense of impending doom the entire time you read. The impending doom, and this isn’t really a spoiler, turns out to be fairly correct. Much of the penultimate amazing revelations were resolvable by the reader about two hundred pages before the reveal, which is frustrating. Not Morton’s best work by far, perhaps forgivable because it’s her first."
T P
Teresa Prokopanko
"This book is captivating. You won’t be disappointed! Can’t say more..."
Rebecca Dodd
"Loved it! Nuf said."
L
Lauren
"I read this based on the recommendations of a couple of friends, but I had problems getting into it. It's done in flashback style, which wasn't a problem at all. In fact, normally that's a technique that I find vaguely irritating but Morton handled it well. My problem was that I enjoyed the present-tense aspects of the story far more than the past-tense which was, of course, the vast majority of the book. I connected much more thoroughly with the main character in her current life. I felt Morton wrote Grace's sense of her own aging and relationships with those around her much more convincingly than Morton wrote of Grace's connection with characters of the past. I would've been much happier, I think, if I'd been reading a novel entirely about Grace as an elderly woman. However, in her afterword, Morton references the fact that she wanted to play with, among other things, a Gothic novel style. Once I read that, it explained to me why I didn't entirely get into the book. The melodrama was a little too over the top for me. Also, having now watched a couple of seasons of Downton Abbey, the similarity between storylines was bothersome. The House at Riverton was written before Downton Abbey came to the U.S., although I'm not as clear as when Downton Abbey first aired in the UK. But they have the same influences and picked up on the same basic plot lines. It's probably just an unfortunate accident of timing for me in terms of when I read the book versus having seen the series, but reading House at Riverton I found myself thinking, "yeah, yeah, heard this before." And Grace is no Maggie Smith to get me through the melodrama. So, it's okay. I wouldn't NOT recommend it. I just wish I could've enjoyed it more."
Sandra Hasenauer
"Cannot recommend this enough. Such descriptive writing I felt I could actually be walking through the house & garden as I was reading. Loved it! (Plus there are sequels to keep you from missing it too much when you’ve finished!)"
B B
Bev Barlow
"Love her."
M F
Marcee Feddersen
"Another Barnes and Noble ARC. This book was excellent. The writing style was incredible, it drew me in so easily. I enjoyed this book from the first chapter to the end. The main characters were well developed and the world they inhabited was beautiful to read about."
Cleo Maranski
