The House at Riverton

By: Kate Morton

Narrated by: Emilia Fox

Length: 20 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Summer 1924: on the night of a glittering society party by the lake of a grand English country house, a young poet takes his life. The only witnesses are sisters Hannah and Emmeline Hartford, and they will never speak to each other again. Winter 1999: Grace Bradley, 98, one-time housemaid of Riverton Manor, is visited by a young director making a film about the poet’s suicide. Ghosts awaken and memories, long consigned to the dark reaches of Grace’s mind, begin to sneak back through the cracks. A shocking secret threatens to emerge – something history has forgotten but Grace never could. Set as the Edwardian summer finally surrenders to the decadent twenties, The House at Riverton is a multi-million-copy bestselling novel and one of the most successful debuts of all time.

©2006 Kate Morton (P)2023 Bolinda Publishing

Critic reviews

"Combines a rich historical setting with a powerful emotional drama – and a gripping mystery." (The Australian Women's Weekly)

"An extraordinary debut." (The Sunday Telegraph)

"A rollicking good yarn of the sort you might devour in a single weekend." (Vogue)

Love this!

Many things I liked: the time period greatly appeals to me. The narrator was wonderful & could change her voice convincingly from someone young to someone decades older. Intrigue was more than sufficient. The theme of a lifetime of memories & how those are dealt with in retrospect is nicely conveyed. I wish it could have been much longer. I did not want it to end.

Some threads left unclear

The writing is magnificent. Character development is superb. I somehow missed where Ruth came from. Never remember Grace being pregnant. All in all, a great read.

Downton Abbey, extended episode

This book was not at all what I was expecting but as it resembled a very long episode at Downton (which I adore), I stuck with it. Grace and Hannah are very similar to Anna and Lady Mary (the narrator sounds almost identical to Mary when speaking Hannah's parts) and overall, with that as comparison, this made for an enjoyable listen. It's a rather undeveloped plot all on its own, though. The gothic mystery I was expecting was neither gothic nor mystery.

A compilation of tropes and borrowed scenes

Maybe I didn’t get the author’s intentions but the lack of original story and characters rendered the drama and it’s inhabitants two dimensional and unsympathetic.

Stunning story and narration

Phenomenal experience listening to this novel by Kate Morton! Her characters are written with such depth. They are complicated, flawed, real, and compelling. Fell in love with Grace the protagonist and sisters Hannah and Emmeline. The male characters were mostly doomed by being in the company of female power and grit. Nobody else writes like Kate Morton.

Another Kate Morton favorite

Beautiful story and excellent narrator. I am an eighty three years old Spanish speaker reader and I enjoyed every single second listening to to this book.

Beautiful

I can’t believe this was Kate Morton’s first book. It was really a lovely and engrossing tale.

Best thing I’ve read in quite a while.

I very much appreciate the research which was obviously done to keep this book authentic. There are well fleshed out characters and an interesting storyline. It was engaging to read the author’s take on the influence of the nouveau riche Americans on the lives of the declining aristocracy of Great Britain. I find the loyalty of those “in service” intriguing. A very fine read with genuine glimpses of the individual perspectives of each of the characters. If this author’s books are of consistent quality, I’ll keep reading her work.

Emilia Fox’s way of telling this story was utterly compelling!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really loved the the way that this story was told & it kept me engaged the entire time.

20th century and the rimes

I love historical fiction! This gives a glimpse I to the changing times of the servant class and the large estates and bad money decisions! Also a love story!