The Clockmaker's Daughter: A Novel

Kate Morton

Oct 2018 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

From the author of the New York Times bestseller Homecoming—“An ambitious, compelling historical mystery with a fabulous cast of characters…Kate Morton at her very best.” —Kristin Hannah

“An elaborate tapestry…Morton doesn’t disappoint.” —The Washington Post

"Classic English country-house Goth at its finest." —New York Post

In the depths of a 19th-century winter, a little girl is abandoned on the streets of Victorian London. She grows up to become in turn a thief, an artist’s muse, and a lover. In the summer of 1862, shortly after her eighteenth birthday, she travels with a group of artists to a beautiful house on a bend of the Upper Thames. Tensions simmer and one hot afternoon a gunshot rings out. A woman is killed, another disappears, and the truth of what happened slips through the cracks of time. It is not until over a century later, when another young woman is drawn to Birchwood Manor, that its secrets are finally revealed.

Told by multiple voices across time, this is an intricately layered, richly atmospheric novel about art and passion, forgiveness and loss, that shows us that sometimes the way forward is through the past.

Ratings and reviews

4.5 Rounded down to 4 This is my first time reading Kate Morton. The writing is absolutely beautiful and almost poetic in style. I love books like this. That being said, there are some parts that I think were too long-winded and overly described. This also has a lot of characters but the way this is written, slow and thorough, I wasn't confused with who was who. I don't believe all the characters needed the spotlights they got though. Regardless, it didn't make me love it any less. The story itself was interesting and unique. I loved the different timelines and POVs. The way this fell into place, bit-by-bit, kept me hooked until the end. Overall, a good read and one I would recommend. Find me on Instagram: @bookn.all.night

BOTTOM-LINE: Great prose, wonderful saga, but difficult structure . PLOT OR PREMISE: A house in the country has some hidden secrets as do some of the people who visit the house throughout 150 years of history. . WHAT I LIKED: The overall story is awesome, despite some accessibility challenges with the structure (see below). You get to see pieces of the long story in the 1850s with one character as a young girl and another as a young boy; period two is an outing a number of years later when a bunch of artists descend on the house for a seminal event in their history; later occupation of the house by a woman who runs a girls school there; transformation of the house into a museum much later, to honour one of the artists from the fateful summer; occupation of the house by a young family during WWII; a visit to the house by a man and a woman years later; and finally a visit by an archivist in the present day, trying to find out some of the history from those various periods. She has some of the clues about the various timeframes and is trying to piece together more information about the fateful summer. . WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: I didn't like the constant jumping around in time and point of view, which is the structural problem I mentioned above. There are at least seven separate timeframes for the house, and even a couple more in there that are alluded to through reminiscing, but some of the timeframes are not indicated very precisely. You kind of have to figure a couple out as you go. In addition, while the author is a master of lyrical prose, you know some of the story is going to be a bit weird when early on you see an event from the point of view of a satchel that is being opened. Yes, the actual satchel, as if it is alive. It is not the only fantastical element in the book, but the rest would be too much of a spoiler to reveal. A bigger problem I had was that in one timejump, the new PoV is in the head of a woman who has a name VERY similar to that of another character; so much so that I was ten pages into the section before I realized that it wasn't the woman I thought it was, and the timeframe was VERY different as a result. I often read books that have timeline issues that are way more complex than here, but even I had trouble following some of the hops. I also found part of the ending left things a bit hard to understand with one person acting very out of character and the final piece being a bit open-ended. . DISCLOSURE: I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow her on social media.

THE CLOCKMAKER’S DAUGHTER by Kate Morton is a story of love, romance, murder and mystery spanning one-hundred and fifty years, numerous timelines, several generations and various perspectives all connected to Birchwood Manor on the Upper Thames. One-hundred and fifty years earlier artist and painter Edward Radcliffe fell in love with his muse, a woman everyone came to know as Lily Millington, a woman who wasn’t whom she purported to be. The purchase of a country estate known as Birchwood Manor would bring together Edward and his fellow artists –the Magenta Brotherhood- wherein their lives where about to change forever. A murder, the presumed departure and guilt of Lily Millington, and the disappearance of the Radcliffe Blue Diamond would kick-off a century and a half of rumors, innuendo, heartbreak and loss that followed one family from 1862 to 2017. In 2017, Archivist Elodie Winslow went in search of her past, a past mired in secrets and death, but a past that Elodie was desperate to discover. With only a damaged photo, an old leather satchel, and stories of a time long ago, Elodie heads to Birchwood Manor to unearth the true about her mother’s life but Elodie isn’t the only one in search of the past as Birchwood Manor’s secrets are about to be exposed. THE CLOCKMAKER’S DAUGHTER is a slow building story line that follows several paths, and numerous timelines; of one family’s history of secrets and lies; and the spirit who is witness to everything and all. THE CLOCKMAKER’S DAUGHTER is a story of ghosts, fairies and queens; of betrayal, loss, heartbreak and love as one family meanders a path between the present and the past. Kate Morton weaves an intricate and detailed story that at times is difficult to navigate as the perspectives and timelines invariably overlap between the present and several pasts. An intriguing story, THE CLOCKMAKER’S DAUGHTER is a beautiful tale that will captivate and entertain; challenge and inflame.

About the author

Kate Morton is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of The House at Riverton, The Forgotten Garden, The Distant Hours, The Secret Keeper, The Lake House, and The Clockmaker’s Daughter. Her books are published in thirty-eight languages and have been #1 bestsellers worldwide. Born and raised in Australia, she holds degrees in dramatic art and English literature, and now lives with her family in London and Australia. Visit her online at KateMorton.com or on Facebook and Instagram at @KateMortonAuthor.