| | |  | Amazon Kindle | Home » » » The House at Riverton | | | | | | | Description: | | The House at Riverton is a gorgeous debut novel set in England between the wars. It is the story of an aristocratic family, a house, a mysterious death and a way of life that vanished forever, told in flashback by a woman who witnessed it all and kept a secret for decades. Grace Bradley went to work at Riverton House as a servant when she was just a girl, before the First World War. For years her life was inextricably tied up with the Hartford family, most particularly the two daughters, Hannah and Emmeline. In the summer of 1924, at a glittering society party held at the house, a young poet shot himself. The only witnesses were Hannah and Emmeline and only they -- and Grace -- know the truth. In 1999, when Grace is ninety-eight years old and living out her last days in a nursing home, she is visited by a young director who is making a film about the events of that summer. She takes Grace back to Riverton House and reawakens her memories. Told in flashback, this is the story of Grace's youth during the last days of Edwardian aristocratic privilege shattered by war, of the vibrant twenties and the changes she witnessed as an entire way of life vanished forever. The novel is full of secrets -- some revealed, others hidden forever, reminiscent of the romantic suspense of Daphne du Maurier. It is also a meditation on memory, the devastation of war and a beautifully rendered window into a fascinating time in history. Originally published to critical acclaim in Australia, already sold in ten countries and a #1 bestseller in England, The House at Riverton is a vivid, page-turning novel of suspense and passion, with characters -- and an ending -- the reader won't soon forget. | | | Product Details: | | | Average Customer Rating:
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Average Customer Review:
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286 of 298 found the following review helpful:
 I loved this bookMar 18, 2008
By Kona
In 1914, fourteen-year old Grace came to Riverton Manor as a housemaid. There she met the Master's grandchildren, whose lives would forever be linked with her own. Now 98, Grace looks back at those early years of duty, selflessness, and silence.
To give away more of the plot would be to rob other readers of the sublime delight I found in reading this book. It is told through the eyes of an old lady who has known great sorrow and some joy, who has seen Edwardian society give way to hard rock and managed to adapt to it all with wisdom and humor. The story paints a vivid picture of life among the idle rich before and after the first War, how carefree children became conflicted adults, and how passion erupted in gunfire one grand summer night.
The author has written such a wonderful story I sobbed through the last chapters, not wanting it to end. It would make a great movie - it's powerful, dramatic, and heartbreaking, equal parts of mystery, romance, and history - and is the best book I've read in a long time.
103 of 108 found the following review helpful:
Deliciously Engrossing!Feb 04, 2008
By Mary Lins
The first two lines of "The House at Riverton" by Kate Morton, are an homage to "Rebecca" and then the novel is reminiscent of "Remains of the Day", "Gosford Park", "The Great Gatsby" and other gothic and romantic novels...all acknowledged by the author in the Afterward. All this makes Morton's first novel deliciously readable, engrossing and fun. She takes the tried and true literary motif of an elderly woman, Grace, recounting the story of her life with heavy hints at a few gothic secrets to be revealed in due course. And it works beautifully! I used to love reading these kinds of stories when I was young; who didn't? Thus it was a wonderful treat to find this gem of a novel which completely captivated me for several days. Yes, one can have a first person narrator who is also omniscient when she is a servant; ubiquitous yet silent, hearing and seeing almost all.
I won't recount the plot or slip in any spoilers, but I want to make note of what a wonderful job Morton does of depicting the unraveling of the constricting social mores after WWI, especially for women and for the service class as they shed the oppression of the Victorian age and entered the "Roaring 20s" with its bohemian and jazzy style.
There are the usual and expected "errors of birth" that we won't be terribly surprised by...we know some secrets before Grace figures them out herself, but one is saved for the end and nicely slipped in.
"The House at Riverton" has been a best seller in England and Morton's homeland, Australia, and I can understand why; I expect it will do very well here in the US, too, as we are endlessly fascinated by tales of British high society and all the intricacies of the upstairs/downstairs ways of life. I will anxiously await Morton's next novel!
70 of 72 found the following review helpful:
Upstairs/Downstairs Charm and Haunting Mystery Combine for Compelling NovelMay 21, 2008
By Antoinette Klein
It's hard to believe this magnificent novel is a first effort by Kate Morton. I will certainly be looking forward to her future work, as this is a well-crafted narrative that exposes a story from the past through the remembrances of ninety-eight-year-old Grace Bradley.
A scandalous tragedy at a lavish English party in 1924 is about to be made into a movie and, as the last surviving person from the event, Grace is interviewed by a dedicated young filmmaker. The filmmaker wants to be clear on all details of a young poet's suicide and present an accurate portrayal. Only Grace knows that history in not correct and what everyone thinks happened did not happen at all. She has kept the secret for over 70 years and it has haunted her memory.
Morton does a masterful job of taking the reader into the lives of the idle rich, the servants who are devoted to them, and the secret liaisons that connect the two classes in forbidden ways. The conflict between desire and possibility is played out generation after generation.
The unreliability of accepted facts, the haunting of the present by the past, and the inescapability of inherited social standing determining one's fate all combine for a searing story I could not put down.
The characters are wonderfully three-dimensional, the plot well-paced and highly believable, the explosive conclusion well worth the time invested. I cannot recommend this one highly enough and can only hope Kate Morton continues to gift us with her talent for storytelling.
56 of 61 found the following review helpful:
War and remembranceJan 24, 2008
By Linda Pagliuco
"katknit"
"War makes history seem deceptively simple. They provide clear turning points, easy distinctions: before and after, winner and loser, right and wrong. True history, the past, is not like that. It isn't flat or linear. It has no outline. It is slippery, like liquid; infinite and unknowable, like space. And it is changeable: just when you think you see a pattern, perspective shifts, an alternative version is proffered...."
The House at Riverton is a true historical novel, in all senses of the term. Told from the first person perspective of 98 year old Grace, the narrative alternates between present and past, the story flowing seamlessly from the recesses of her memory and more than 50 years of painful reflection. Riverton has many themes: the myriad damages wrought by war, the relentlessly impersonal evolution of society, the slippery intricacies of relationships, the crucial importance of self-actualization. It is mystery in reverse: from many clues, from the atmosphere of secrecy and suspense, we know with absolute certainty that something dreadful happens, but the exact nature of the tragedy becomes fully apparent only on the final page. Ms Morton's characters, Grace, the sisters, the men in their lives, the servants, are genuine and vibrant, real people that the reader comes to know, love, hate, and care about in one way or another. By the conclusion of this finely crafted novel, we know Grace the best, and as she faces her own death, we understand that she has learned important lessons from the past, has truly learned to live her own life on her own terms.
Riverton is an exceptionally strong debut from a gifted writer. One can only imagine and anticipate what Morton might have in store for us next!
55 of 62 found the following review helpful:
 Déjà vu all over againAug 23, 2008
By Baking Enthusiast
"Liza"
"The House at Riverton" centers on the lives of Grace Bradley, a housemaid at the English country estate of Riverton and two of its residents, sisters Hannah and Emmeline. The novel spans the years of 1914 to 1924 in Essex and London. During a soirée at Riverton, a young poet, Robbie Hunter, commits suicide and only the two sisters and Grace are witnesses to the truth behind his tragic death.
The novel begins in 1999 with a 98-year-old Grace, now nearing her end as a resident in a nursing home. A filmmaker who's directing a retrospective of Riverton approaches her, eager to plumb her memories of the house, her years of service and Robbie's death. This project becomes a catalyst for Grace's revelations of her time at Riverton and the disastrous misunderstanding that led to that fateful night. The story unfolds through flashbacks, alternating between the early 1900s and 1999.
One can almost tell that Ms. Morton is a romantic at heart. Her characters are imbued with the tragic romanticism pervasive in historical fiction. Whether this is a welcome element or not depends greatly on the reader's preferences. I find it to be tedious only because I prefer stark realism. (For example, it would have been far more interesting for me if WWI had been woven into the characters' lives in more than a cursory way, considering that it toppled four empires and its casualties numbered in the tens of millions.) Even setting that aside, the "Upstairs Downstairs" redux here is too obvious. The characters that populated the 1970s miniseries are unashamedly `resurrected' so to speak--Mr. Hudson is now Mr. Hamilton, Mrs. Bridges is now Mrs. Townsend, Ruby is now Katie, Rose is now Grace, etc. One can almost `hear' Gordon Jackson, Jean Marsh and Angela Baddeley `speaking' the dialogues in this novel.
There are two mysteries in the story--first is Grace's paternity, and second is what really happened the night Robbie supposedly killed himself. The first can be easily discounted. Only the most inattentive of readers will miss the clues that were evident by page 50. Ms. Morton doesn't so much as drop or couch clues as she allows them to sprout hands and wave hello. Not a good thing for a mystery. The second is treated much better, and though one can still guess the secrets Grace has been keeping for decades, the truth is still satisfactory since it is incorporated in a very touching way to her final days with her family.
Re the plot, Ms. Morton has dutifully listed the sources of her inspiration, but I have some difficulty reconciling `inspiration' with the `lifting' of plot points. Anyone who has read Margaret Atwood's "The Blind Assassin" or L. P. Hartley's "The Go-Between" or Barbara Vine's "A Dark-Adapted Eye" will immediately recognize the similarities. (Even the book's opening line is derivative of du Maurier.) Re the devices, there's nothing new with an elderly person nearing the end of his/her life needing to reveal decades-long secrets through flashbacks ("The Thirteenth Tale," "The Brimstone Wedding," "The Chatham School Affair," "The Sixth Lamentation," etc.). Same with the unexplainable `lure' of a manor (Manderley, anyone?), the noblesse oblige of the upper class, past secrets that haunt the present, female frustration over restrictive social mores, hysteria, etc. Even a casual reader of Gothic already knows these devices and tropes by heart.
I appreciate the fact that historical fiction is a daunting challenge to a writer who, at the minimum, has to accurately depict the place, time and lingo of a past era. However, there are minor flubs here that could have been easily caught by the editor. (Ms. Morton is Australian writing in the voice of an Englishwoman.) `Cane' should have been `walking stick'; `ma', `da', `wee' are Highlands-speak, the characters are English, not Scottish; `Selfridge's' as anyone who's shopped in London knows should be `Selfridges'; `haberdashers' sell notions if they still exist, they certainly don't sell Dictaphones; `salary' ought to be `wages'; Grace buys Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Valley of Fear" before it is published as a book when it would have been more believable for her to have read Strand Magazine's prior serialization of it; the carrying of handguns was not outlawed until the 1950s, yet here, it occurs in the 1920s; etc.
Call "The House at Riverton" derivative or pastiche--both are true--but, surprisingly, it still manages to be an enjoyable read, especially its latter chapters. Lovers of historical fiction will derive much pleasure and may be much more forgiving than I've been. For a first effort, the writing is skillful, and if one dismisses from the mind the many sources of its characters and plot, it really can be engrossing.
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