The House at Riverton

This is not great literature but it was a really good holiday read with a strong ending which did not leave you feeling let down. It is a combination of "Upstairs Downstairs" mixed with elements of "The Go-Between" and with a splash of "Brideshead Revisited". Well worth a read.

Stunning Debut (0/0 people found this helpful)

This book owes a great debt (duly noted in the acknowledgments) to Upstairs, Downstairs, Remains of the Day, Gosford Park, The Blind Assassin and anything by DuMaurier, and I think that Kate Morton does her literary and cinematic ancestors proud.

The story is cunningly written, and though I often gripe about being able to spot plot points in advance, I did not see what would happen ahead of time. This was a refreshing change. There was only one instance where I knew a plot point before the protagonist did, but it was tangential to the main storyline, and the clues laid out before us were meant to lead us in that direction, so I don't consider that a flaw.

These are the kinds of sprawling, layered novels that I love most. Someone looking back over her life reveals a lifetime worth of secrets and reading the novel is like peeling an onion. I tried to ration out my reading of it, because I knew I would never want it to end, but finally I had to give in to my desire to see what would happen next and how all the ends would tie together.

Fascinating reading - on the basis of this book I already have The Forgotten Garden on my wish list.

predictable but very well written (0/1 people found this helpful)

Another story of upstairs downstairs and the ties between classes in times gone by. Well written both in terms of the story and its structure which is unusual with popular fiction now! Only a couple of Americanisms gave away the author's nationality. An enjoyable read, not too much concentration needed, bit predictable, but kept its pace.

The literary equivalent of watching a Merchant and Ivory film (0/0 people found this helpful)

The House at Riverton is narrated by Grace, now aged 98 and nearing death. She's looking back on her life as a lady's maid which began when she went into service at the house in Riverton, at the age of 14. A film is being made about a tragedy that occurred there and that triggers a lot of memories for her as she finally decides to open up about some secrets that she's been keeping. The book jumps forwards and backwards in time (although I felt that the present day scenes don't add a lot to the story).

The opening is highly reminiscent of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and the book has the same slightly dated feel. It starts slowly - in fact the entire story is quite drawn out, although it speeds up at the end. However despite this, it held my interest. Although there are a number of secrets that are revealed, it's not really a mystery novel. The big twist in particular is so well signposted that it's hard to imagine it being a surprise to anyone!

"The House at Riverton" is an interesting and well told story, the literary equivalent of watching a Merchant and Ivory film.

Very atmospheric (1/1 people found this helpful)

I have just finished the book minutes ago. Before reading it, I read lots of the reviews on here, and I agree with a lot of what has been said already, positive and negative. I enjoyed the book very much - the end was gripping. It is rather long and some bits were a little hard to concentrate on, but altogether I enjoyed it very much. It's a great summer holiday read. The description is very good, I think. The characters are a little conventional and stereotyped - I think Grace and Hannah are good characters; Emmeline and Teddy are less so. I found Robbie a slightly unbelievable character, in some ways.

The ending is, of course, tragic, as we knew it would be from the synopsis on the back cover of the book. I agree that one aspect of the plot was easy to guess, but I must say I did not guess other, later aspects - perhaps I should have done.

I am a realist, not somebody who looks back and regrets things - regret is always too painful. For this reason I have to banish the heartbreaking ending and say that various characters had inbuilt instability, which means that if things had turned out as intended, I'm not sure they would have been so perfect as we're meant to think. But this is a tragedy, and that's how tragedies are presented, as rather extreme. They don't happen to all of us every day, but they do happen sometimes to some people in certain circumstances. The reference to Romeo and Juliet in the book is clever.

I will definitely be reading The Forgotten Garden very soon. I hope the ending is a little less tragic - not sure I can put myself through that again!

The House at Riverton

Kate Morton

Reader Reviews:

Not Great Literature but.... (0/0 people found this helpful)

Stunning Debut (0/0 people found this helpful)

predictable but very well written (0/1 people found this helpful)

The literary equivalent of watching a Merchant and Ivory film (0/0 people found this helpful)

Very atmospheric (1/1 people found this helpful)

Similar Products

Categories