(5/7/2008)
A wonderful novel!
The setting (1900-1924) and the place (Riverton House in the English countryside) are well researched and have a definite feeling of authenticity.
The characters are all caught, unsuspecting at first, in a changing time between two wars; politics, ambitions, attitudes toward women, their place in society and the suffragette movement all play a part in their lives. Both major and minor characters have secrets, which lead the reader to many questions, some answered and some not answered.
The story alternates between the past and the present (1999) from the perspective of the main character, Grace, who begins as a servant girl at age 14 and dying at age 98, In her last hours she shares with the reader the secret she has kept for 75 years.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable book. I look forward to more of Kate Morton’s work in the near future.