What readers think of The House at Riverton, plus links to write your own review.

What a great book! The author's approach kept you wanting more. I loved all of the twists & turns. I was thinking that how Grace was able to get her doctorate was going to be left unexplained, but then another surprise. Can't wait to read Ms. Morton's next book - maybe a sequel of the next generation?

I was interested in the societal changes in England basically between and post WW1. There are three main characters. Grace, who started to work at Riverton at 14 years of age (approx 1914) as a housemaid. At the time, society was deeply split by classes and societal rules. She narrates the story as an unopinionated housemaid of that period (or at least tries to; succeeding most of the time) Hannah, the older of two daughters, wishes she were a boy so she could discuss politics and business. Emmeline, the younger, loves dresses, parties and flirting. The novel shows how their characters change with the changing times. The book grows in suspense as it moves through the story. I could not put this book down right to the end. The only exception was the many, many characters which I finally made a list of so I could keep them straight.

Kate Morton, a debut novelist, has a great career ahead of her. It is rare to find a book that can keep the suspense moving to the very end. I am sure that book clubs would find this an interesting book to discuss with its many facets. There are books written that discuss societal changes and how the characters react to them, but this one is one of the best I have read. Highly recommended.

Told in flashback by Grace, a loyal family servant, this debut novel tells the story of the Hartford family and Riverton, their English country estate, during the first quarter of the 20th century. This book has it all – the charmed but tragic lives of the landed gentry, the world of their faithful servants, passionate and doomed love affairs, the impact of World War I on English society, changes in the role of women in society - to name just a few. The story was briskly paced and kept me in suspense until the end, when Grace’s secret is finally revealed. The characters were believable and sympathetic in that British stiff upper-lip sort of way. If you like books like Rebecca, Atonement and Water for Elephants, as I do, this book is highly recommended.

The House At Riverton is a fabulous novel!

The author skillfully brings her readers into the house, upstairs with the aristocratic family and downstairs with the household servant staff.

As I read this book, I felt I was right there, sharing the lives and secrets of the characters in the story. I enjoyed going back in history, to the mid-1920's via Grace's memories. The suspense at the end of the novel was great.

It was difficult to put this book down. I will eagerly wait for Kate Morton's second novel.

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.

I very much liked this book although it did remind me of several others I have read, namely "Rebecca" and "A Woman of Substance". The one thing I would have liked is that the character of Grace be developed more fully. I liked the going back and forth from 1924 and 1999 as a plot device, and although I figured out the "secret" early on, I enjoyed the author's process. I would recommend it and I do think it would appeal to book clubs - the discussion would be interesting. It is a fast read and worth the time and I think a good first effort for this author.

This book is somewhat reminiscent of The Thirteenth Tale. It’s told in flashback by an elderly woman, sisters (one named Emmeline) are part of the story, the setting is in an old family house, and many secrets are gradually revealed. That said, it’s also very different from The Thirteenth Tale. Yes, it’s a story about a family and their servants, but it’s so much more. It’s a story of the time. England during and after World War I was a country and society in the midst of change. The concept of “Duty” is a theme throughout the book – The household staff and their duty to the family they work for, the duty to family and country that crossed all class levels. The impact of the war on the families who lost sons and fathers as well as the survivors who came home forever altered by their wartime experiences is as much a part of this book as the primary story.

The House at Riverton was evocatively written, and successfully captures the spirit of an age through the eyes of a woman in who, in her final days, relives them. The author creates vivid characters and tells a compelling story. Several compelling stories, actually: there is the story of Grace and her relationship with the daughters of the house; the story of Grace and her family; the story of the daughters of the house; all threaded around the larger theme of the changing British society in the aftermath of World War I. The author indulges in a frustrating habit of inserting unnecessary teasers of what the reader knows from the beginning is a tragic end, but this is a minor irritant in what is otherwise beautifully written. If there is a fundamental flaw to the story, it is that the author tries to accomplish too much, and makes a simple story more complicated than it needs to be through the addition of an unnecessary plot device. It may not have the timelessness of similar stories, such as Remains of the Day or Gosford Park, but it is a uniformly lovely read with occasional flashes of breathless beauty, and is more than definitely worth the time.