Review: The House at Riverton

The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love Kate Morton books! But, given the way they unfold -- over time, skipping back and forth, with secrets -- there's no way I could read one right after the other.

So! This was described as perfect for fans of Downton Abbey, and that is so true.

Then: a grand house, and a dramatic suicide during a house party.

Now: an old woman who was a maid then, contacted by people making a film about the tragedy and the family.

I LOVED this, the dual stories of the dying grand family while a young girl rises up.

I don't want to get to much into Grace's story, the teenage daughter of a single mother sent to the grand house to be a maid, a good position at the turn of the last century. How her life changes, how she views herself changes, how her loves change, how her opportunities change as time goes by, is, well, wonderful. With a touch of fear, because one cannot help but wonder about her involvement in that long ago murder.

Meanwhile the story of the grand family is told primarily in the 1920s and earlier, and in many ways its about how those families and that lifestyle is dying, changing, being left behind.

And also a happy ending! No, really, the surprises here are happy ones that left me, well, so content and satisfied.






View all my reviews