Book Summary and Reviews of The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton

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VA

I cannot wait to finish but don't want it to end!
As with all of Kate Morton's books, this one is mesmerizing. I cannot guess the ending, but I am dying to know how it turns out. Fantastic writer!!

Lois B

A Haunting Story
I always enjoy a Kate Morton story; an old house with secrets, a mystery from long ago, and a cast of characters and then a twist that you don't see coming. If I had any complaint it would be too many characters with back stories; I did find myself skimming in the later half of the book.

But still always a good story being told.

Betty Taylor

Tragic, Yet Magical
Kate Morton’s genius is revealed with her latest book THE CLOCKMAKER’S DAUGHTER. Be forewarned – the book is a journey - a journey through time, a journey through lives, a journey through hearts. The story may be difficult to follow at first as it weaves in and out through the ages and numerous characters are revealed. But once you grasp the essence of the story it becomes almost magical.

Part One sets up the story in present day 2017 when archivist Elodie Winslow comes across an old leather satchel containing a journal and a framed photo. That statement is so mundane – Ms. Morton write it so much more beautifully. “The pinpricks of sudden light were a shock and the satchel, pressed deep inside the box, exhaled”. The satchel exhaled, she breathed life into that sentence! “Open me, the satchel urged Look inside”. Inside the satchel were a framed sepia photograph of a woman in Victorian-era clothing and an old monogrammed journal with numerous artist’s sketches. A sketch of a river scene and a twin-gabled house in the background filled her with a sense of déjà vu. She was overcome with the memory of a story her mother used to tell her, a children’s bedtime story.

Then with the remainder of the book we meander back and forth throughout the decades from 1862 back to present-day 2017. (I admit that I was confused until I realized that the Roman numeral labeled chapters were all narrated by the same woman, a woman whose real name no one remembers, the woman who ties all the time periods together.) We learn that on a summer evening in 1862 a group of artist friends gathered at Birchwood Manor. That eventful evening after which none of their lives would ever be the same. The events of that night would remain buried in the memory of the one person who held all the pieces to the puzzle. A stranger had appeared, a woman was killed, another woman has disappeared, and a family gem vanished. Theories developed but only one person knew the truth. Morton then masterfully guides us along as she reveals piece by piece what happened on that cataclysmic evening until the horrific truth is revealed.

“My real name, no one remembers.
The truth about that summer, no one else knows.”

To further demonstrate Morton’s genius, throughout this story of loss she also weaves a thread of peacefulness and love and belonging. In the end my heart ached at what was and what could have been.

Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews

The Clockmaker's Daughter
An old house, an old sketch book, an old murder, an old photograph, and a lot of mysteries. Who doesn’t love all of those?

THE CLOCKMAKER’S DAUGHTER has it all.

THE CLOCKMAKER’S DAUGHTER goes back and forth in time looking for clues to connect Elodie’s present-day questions and findings to the time when her mother was alive and how a country manor and other mysteries seem to have a connection to her mother. She KNOWS there is some connection with everything she finds circling around Birchwood Manor.

Ms. Morton definitely makes you “work” for the clues. Her writing is beautiful as always, but the story line was difficult to follow.

Each chapter began without the identification of the person talking so the reader has to figure out who has appeared on the scene now.

I always enjoy Ms. Morton's books because of the gothic atmosphere and marvelous connection between the characters and the story line, but THE CLOCKMAKER'S DAUGHTER had me confused most of the time. Finding the connections was similar to solving a difficult math problem.

Once the chapter got started and you became interested in the story line, it was over and another thought and character appeared.

I can't say I didn't like the book. THE CLOCKMAKER’S DAUGHTER had a skillfully constructed story line, but it wasn't an easy read.

Once you were connected, though, it all started to come together in her marvelous Kate Morton style with a brilliant ending.

I LOVE her books, her beautiful writing, and her involved story lines so I kept reading because I wanted to find out how it all fit together and what the ending would reveal. The revelations were marvelous as always.

Anyone who loves Kate Morton, who likes to unravel a book's story line, and who can wait until it all comes together will not want to miss reading THE CLOCKMAKER'S DAUGHTER. 4/5

This book was given to me as an ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Cloggie Downunder

Classic Kate Morton.
The Clockmaker’s Daughter is the sixth novel by Australian author, Kate Morton. When bank archivist Elodie Winslow opens a long-forgotten box, she’s fascinated by the contents, in particular a leather satchel containing a sketch book and a photograph of a beautiful young woman. While it should relate somehow to the founder of Stratton, Cadwell & Co., James Stratton, it is apparent that some items belonged to nineteenth-century-artist, Edward Radcliffe. But one sketch especially resonates with Elodie: she’s convinced it is the place of her mother’s bedtime stories.

Edward had purchased Birchwood Manor because he felt a strong connection with the place. The plan had been for the Magenta brotherhood to spend the summer of 1862 there, engaged in artistic pursuits. But the intruder who shot and killed Edward’s fiancée, Fanny Brown, had put a premature end to that.

Edward's utter devastation was to be expected after such a tragedy. The precious Radcliffe Blue was now missing, and the Police report implicated Edward’s most recent model, a woman going by the name of Lily Millington, but not everyone believed that version of events. What really happened? And did it have anything to do with the satchel, the sketch book and the photograph that Elodie had found?

Morton's latest offering weaves the stories of many characters, in the form of anecdotes, vignettes or short stories in themselves, together into one epic tale that spans over a hundred and fifty years, and that ultimately reveals the answers to mysteries and connections, to each other, and to the house. Such an epic needs many narrators, so the cast is not small, even including a ghost, and yet there are often barely a few degrees of separation between them. Morton does tend to use coincidence, which can occasionally make the final reveal seem contrived, but readers familiar with her work will be aware of what to expect.

There is no lack of parallels between the lives of various characters and while it is easy to hope for the best for those whose stories are told, some (Ada, Lucy, Winston) hold particular appeal and, for most readers, young Tip will be the stand-out favourite. There are some suitably nasty characters as well, one whose idea of friendship leaves much to be desired. This is a story with twists and red herrings, with grief and guilt, with theft and treasure and hidden spaces, with love of many sorts and a heart-warming ending. Classic Kate Morton.

Roberta

Huge disappointment
I love Kate Morton's books and was so excited to start reading this one. It was a disappointment. It was disjointed and hard to follow. Every time I thought it would pick up and get "mysterious", it failed to deliver. I will, however, read Morton's next book as she is a good writer. Hopefully this book was just a one-off.

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