The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
The House at Riverton
by Kate Morton
4.0 Stars

It’s 1999 and Grace Bradley receives a note from a movie producer. A film is being made about a suicide that occurred in 1924 at an estate in England called Riverton where Grace worked as a servant. Grace is suddenly confronted with the memories of what happened that night and the secret that she has been holding for 75 years. Grace was only 14 years old when she started working at Riverton just before the First World War started. Over the course of the book, we learn about her life and the lives of the Hartford family, especially the two young girls Hannah and Emmeline, over the next 10 years culminating in that night in 1924.

Kate Morton has written a very entertaining novel. She cleverly intertwines the story of 98 year old Grace Bradley remembering the past and 14 year old Grace Bradley experiencing it. Morton creates characters that are interesting but at the same time their mistakes are frustrating but make them seem more human. Morton’s characters live life as a series of mistakes connected by failures to learn from them. Morton creates wonderful imagery with her writing and it is easy to see that her degree in English Literature was not wasted.

The story is enjoyable but not perfect. Many questions are raised and ignored. Why did Robbie wait so long to contact Hannah? What happened at Riverton while Hannah and Grace were away that led to Mr. Hartfod’s death? Why did Grace keep her secrets from Hannah? At the same time, Morton does a wonderful job with foreshadowing to pull the reader further into the story to find out why this happened or what did this clue mean? Overall, this is a wonderful book that I am glad to recommend.

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