The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton

The Clockmaker's Daughter

by Kate Morton

From the bestselling author of The House at Riverton and The Secret Keeper, Kate Morton brings us her trademark mix of secrets, lies, and intricately layered mysteries in her sixth novel, The Clockmaker's Daughter.

My real name, no one remembers.

The truth about that summer, no one else knows.

In the depths of a nineteenth-century winter, a little girl is abandoned in the narrow streets of London. Adopted by a mysterious stranger, she becomes in turn a thief, a friend, a muse, and a lover. Then, in the summer of 1862, shortly after her eighteenth birthday, she retreats with a group of artists to a beautiful house on a quiet bend of the Upper Thames . . . Tensions simmer and one hot afternoon a gun-shot rings out. A woman is killed, another disappears, and the truth of what happened slips through the cracks of time.

Over the next century and beyond, Birchwood Manor welcomes many newcomers but guards its secret closely - until another young woman is drawn to visit the house because of a family secret of her own . . .

As the mystery of The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton begins to unravel, we discover the stories of those who have passed through Birchwood Manor since that fateful day in 1862. Intricately layered and richly atmospheric, it shows that, sometimes, the only way forward is through the past.

Reviewed by elysium on

3 of 5 stars

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The book follows many people through time, from 1862 to 2017, who have some connection to a house called Birchwood Manor. Elodie is an archivist who finds an old satchel with a photograph of a woman inside it. She’s determined to find out who it had belonged and who the woman is.

I don’t really know what to say about this. The book started a bit slow and was quite hard to get into but then suddenly it got better. I’m not usually a huge fan of the “present-day” pov’s but here it was my fav and I enjoyed Elodie’s story most. I didn’t mind the time changed, it was well stated where we were, but there could have been fewer characters to keep track of.

While this wasn’t bad, it certainly wasn’t as good as the previous books I’ve read by the author. I would suggest this isn’t the first book to try by this author.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 22 March, 2020: Finished reading
  • 22 March, 2020: Reviewed