Books : The House at Riverton

Rating: - Enjoyable and well written
I enjoyed this book, although not as much as her follow-up, The Forgotten Garden.

For me the strengths were Kate Morton's clear ability to evoke the past and I found the insight into 1920s England colourful and absorbing. Also the characters were engaging and likeably flawed and the plot was engrossing if not gripping.

I agree with another reviewer, however, that the identity of Grace's father was glaringly obvious long before Grace finally realised, so much so that you wanted to shout it at her. The bittersweet ending was also slightly predictable and left me feeling a bit cold.

All in all a good piece of well written fiction that I enjoyed but perhaps a warm up to the Forgotten Garden.

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Rating: - A light Summer read
I had high hopes for this booked based on all the positive reviews. I was quite disappointed, it was a nice read, but that's it 'nice'. The ending was a bit of an anti-climax. Expected better

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Rating: - Incredibly disappointing and poorly written
I bought this book because I read the reviews and thought it would be good. It is in many ways one of the most disappointing I have ever read. It is very poorly written with pretentious language at times that adds nothing to the book because overall it is an easy reader. The supposed twists and turns are so obvious that there is nothing to keep you reading. I struggled with it for the first 200 pages because I kept thinking that it had to get better. I only finished it because I had got so far and hate to leave any book unfinished. Despite a lot of effort by the author the people were poorly characterised and I felt no empathy with them. If you a good read don't buy this one

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Rating: - A bit weak in places but I enjoyed it
Well Ive just finished this book, which I bought ages ago and never felt like picking up. I fancied a bit of light relief and thats what I got. I thought overall it was well written with some real strokes of genius together with some cliches. It seemed to me to be trying to be a bit "Atonementish" but in a 'holiday read' sort of way.

If you like the 20's and the whole upstairs downstairs thing I think you will like this because I think the author handles the relationships between the characters really well. I didnt have any trouble switching between young and old Grace. I imagine when (if) I get to her age I will do the same. I think the author herself likes the period she set the book in. I imagine "The Great Gatsby" is one of her favourites.

A good read that doesnt answer all your questions, but in a good way, and although you can guess the ending is one going to be one of 3 scenarios its still really well done and isnt quite at the end.

It has some themes that could become really sweet and sickly but the author doesnt let them become so - even though I kept thinking she would.

Not a classic of its type in my opinion but a good read nonetheless. I enjoyed it.

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Rating: - You need to read it and make up your own mind
Firstly to get the gripes out of the way;

As another reviewer has mentioned, this book does jump all over the place somewhat and could be hard to follow if you dont have good concentration. It is also worth mentioning that none of the characters are particularly likeable or easy to relate to and the book is slow starting but i'm glad I perservered.

I think it is fantastically researched and that is why im giving it 5 stars, descriptions are also excellent and in my imagination, I was just there.

The first part of this book is slow and you sometimes wonder why you are being told certain things but the second part and particularly the ending are fantastic, if somewhat predictable.

I thoroughly enjoyed it in the end and couldn't put it down.

I am looking forward to reading Kate's next book!