Only Time Will Tell

Jeffrey Archer

Aug 2011 · The Clifton Chronicles Book 1 · Sold by St. Martin's Press

About this eBook

From the internationally bestselling author Jeffrey Archer comes Only Time Will Tell, the first in the ambitious Clifton Chronicles series that tells the story of one family across generations, across oceans, from heartbreak to triumph.

The epic tale of Harry Clifton's life begins in 1920, with the words "I was told that my father was killed in the war." A dock worker in Bristol, Harry never knew his father, but he learns about life on the docks from his uncle, who expects Harry to join him at the shipyard once he's left school. But then an unexpected gift wins him a scholarship to an exclusive boys' school, and his life will never be the same again.

As he enters into adulthood, Harry finally learns how his father really died, but the awful truth only leads him to question, was he even his father? Is he the son of Arthur Clifton, a stevedore who spent his whole life on the docks, or the firstborn son of a scion of West Country society, whose family owns a shipping line?

This introductory novel in Archer's engrossing series The Clifton Chronicles includes a cast of colorful characters and takes us from the ravages of the Great War to the outbreak of the Second World War, when Harry must decide whether to take up a place at Oxford or join the navy and go to war with Hitler's Germany. From the docks of working-class England to the bustling streets of 1940 New York City, Only Time Will Tell takes readers on a journey through to future volumes, which will bring to life one hundred years of recent history to reveal a family story that neither the reader nor Harry Clifton himself could ever have imagined.

Ratings and reviews

I very much enjoyed this novel. Jeffrey Archer has given a detailed and rather entertaining glimpse into early life of Harry Clifton. A tragic story detailing the events and people that ultimately threatens to rip apart two families. Young Harry is forced to face the one thing that stands between himself and the woman of his dreams. I couldn't put this book down.

Apparently, Mr Archer has been recycling the same stale plot devices, and the same obsolete writing style since I read "Cain and Abel". I can't imagine slogging my way through 3 or 4 more of these atrociously crafted novels.

It was a great book. The characters were well rounded, the plot was complicated, the drama kept me interested the entire time, but Jeffrey Archer made it all believable.

About the author

Jeffrey Archer was educated at Oxford University. He has served five years in Britain's House of Commons and nineteen years in the House of Lords. All of his novels and short story collections--including And Thereby Hangs a Tale, Kane and Abel, Paths of Glory and False Impression--have been international bestselling books. Archer is married with two sons and lives in London and Cambridge.