The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton

The only other time I have done this is for The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware where I liked the cover of version I did not read. Being ebooks (as all my ARCs are) it does not matter much, but it does add a layer of fun when recommending it.

In the case of this book, below are the covers of the US,UK and AUS editions respectively. I was lucky enough to be given a chance to read the ARC by Mantle/Pan Macmillan to read the UK edition, but I really liked the other covers so much more!!

  

Long ago, I read the review of The Forgotten Garden by Lynne @Fictionophile  and I was so intrigued that I started my own foray into the author’s books ( I know it is a sad thing that I had not known of the author previously)

I read, enjoyed and reviewed three of the author’s books

• The Forgotten Garden
• The Secret Keeper
• The Lake House

When I saw that there was a new ARC that could be requested, I jumped at the chance. This is a slightly different book than the previous ones that I have read.

First and foremost, usually there is a connection between two main women in the story and around them the story unfolds. In this case there are a lot more people, a lot more happenings all tied in a very simple way to the ‘house’. The phrase ‘chain of events’ can be the most appropriate simplification of the description of this tale. The Clockmaker’s Daughter spans two hundred years and many lives, . I shall begin with the quality of writing itself, mostly because the finesse involved in giving us the information in bits and pieces without making us feel insulted or impatient is something of a unique accomplishment. The style of narration makes reading this book a very delightful experience. That being said, too many people are involved in this saga, and it was hard for me to feel for every one of them equally, despite each having an equally heavy burden, a single person has only so much of attention to spare.

The story is essentially of a house, an inanimate building brought to life by the lives of the many who have lived within its walls. In the present day, we meet Elodie at the precipice of starting a new life, finding something during her job as an archivist, things with a complicated secret history. She lives in the shadow of her mother but this story is actually of neither of those women.Neither is it of the man wandering the grounds of the house. During all this time the house waits and tells us with its voice the story we actually want to hear. The house passes through many hands each linked to the next by something. There is a factor of the paranormal in this story and it is very rich with people and events, the only reason it was not a five-star read for me was it felt too rich. I was torn between feeling sorry for one event, curious about another and angry at yet another. Do read it to figure out if any one emotion can dominate your time with this story.

The UK edition is to be published next month.