The House at Riverton - Kate Morton

I first found this book after reading up on the Richard and Judy Summer Reads 2007, and after loving some of the other books on their list, I decided I would try this one. This isn't normally the kind of book I would go for, but I really liked the blurb on the back so I was even more keen! This is author Kate Morton's first novel. She is an Australian author, and this novel won her the Australian Book Industry Award for General Fiction Book of the Year. Please note, the book is only called The House At Riverton in the UK, it is called The Shifting Fog in Australia and New Zealand. I think the English title suits it much better though! The book is ...  Read the complete review

"Within its four walls lay a secret that would last a lifetime" The House at Riverton is, as described on the back, a book of love, mystery and a secret history that are revealed. The novel is set in two worlds; the 'present' day and memories. Memories of a servant/maid who worked at Riverton, for the Hartfords, and is now at the age of 98with memories resurfacing of her early life due to the production of film about events that happened there. "On the eve of a glittering society party, by the lake of a grand English house, a young poet takes his life. The only witnesses, sisters Hannah and Emmeline Hartford, will never speak to each other ...  Read the complete review

Summer 1924: By the lake of an English Country House, two sisters witness a young poet taking his own life. The sisters never speak to each other again. Winter 1999: One time housemaid of Riverton, Grace Bradley, now 98, is approached by a Director who is making a film about the death of the poet at the lake. Grace begins to remember the ghosts of the past and memories, lies and secrets surface of the time she spent at Riverton - the young sisters weren't the only ones to witness the young poets death... This story is taken from the point of view from the now elderly Grace Bradley as she sits in her retirement home speaking in a ...  Read the complete review

It's safe to say I am set in my ways in terms of literature. Ever a fan of a good crime thriller, I am a staunch fan of authors such as James Patterson, John Grisham, Harlan Coben, the list goes on. More recently, I have been persuaded by my wife to branch out a bit and at least give other genres of literature a go. If I don't like it, I can always stop and revert back to my generic serial killer or troubled cop 'trash'. Having tried and enjoyed Colin Bateman's 'I Predict A Riot', which mixed humour and crime together and was a slightly different take on crime, depicting the harsh realities of an Ireland ravaged by conflict, I felt a little inclined to go ...  Read the complete review

The house at Riverton was a book I seriously struggled to put down. In the summer of 1924 a young Grace worked as a housemaid at Riverton Manor. On the eve of a glittering society party a young poet takes his life. The only two witnesses, sisters Hannah and Emmeline Hartford, for whom Grace works, will never speak to each other again. The memory of this lays suppressed in Grace's mind until in the winter of 1999 a young director who is making a film about the young poet's suicide approaches her. As Grace recalls the tale through a tape recording to her grandson and conversations with the director ghosts awaken and old memories that have been ...  Read the complete review