Wednesday, September 24, 2008

#71 - The House at Riverton



Book No: 71
Title: The House at Riverton
Author: Kate Morton
Genre: Fiction/Gothic
Published: 2007
Obtained: 2008/Paperbackswap
Completed: 8/31/2008
No. of Pages: 473
Rating: 4/5*****

Grace Reeves is 98 years old and living in a nursing home. A movie is being made about the notorious death of the poet R.S. Hunter at Riverton House. When a young filmmaker contacts Grace as the last living person to have knowledge of the events leading to his death, Grace is thrust back in her memories to that time just before World War I, and her life as a housemaid at Riverton. Deciding she wants to tell the truth about all that happened she begins recording her story for her grandson, so he can know the truth of what she witnessed.

This book tells the story of Grace in alternating chapters of the past and present. It has a gothic tinged tone to it, as we learn of the lives of the ‘Upstairs/Downstairs’ people that populate Riverton. Starting out as a young girl of 14 Grace is slowly enmeshed in the life of the three siblings Hannah, Emmeline and David, the privileged upper class children who live at Riverton, eventually becoming Hannah’s personal maid. As the Great War begins it wreaks havoc on many of the characters in the book, and at the end of the war many cracks are apparent in the separation of the English classes. Soon both Hannah and Emmeline begin to rebel in ways that will have tragic results.

I really enjoyed this story that involved a mystery, two love stories and an impending feeling of doom. There were a couple of good twists in the narrative but I don’t want to ruin it for anyone else, so I will just say it kept my attention throughout, and I am looking forward to another book by Ms. Morton.

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