the fake drama came and slapped me in the face, which of course I did not like in the least and the whole experience got spoiled. As the book progresses, I was rather delighted that perhaps one of the few brighter aspects of a war-shattered country was many people questioning this world view. I suppose that growing up in the earlier years of the century did not help her quest to find fulfillment.

It is a terrific book but the most memorable thing about it is the fact that even though the couple, the Buntings, suspect their lodger might be Jack the Ripper they don't allow . The novel is full of secrets -- some revealed, others hidden forever, reminiscent of the romantic suspense of Daphne du Maurier. It took too long for any of the secrets to be revealed and then when they were it was really underwhelming.Well, as it turns out, it could feel like a cobbled-together collection of Upstairs-Downstairs stereotypes, played-out female character archetypes, and plot twists and sub-plots that, after lots of set-up, amount to very little. Full of lovely writing, grand houses, snobbery, cruelty and passion, this compelling mystery-cum-love story . Robbie is suffering shell-shock from the war, and wants to run away with Hannah and begin new lives together. Hannah was a very stubborn, independent young woman and she decided to get a job and never get married.

After almost 3 years, I've finished reading all 6 of her books; it's a tad amusing that the last one I read is actually the first book she wrote -- The House at Riverton, or The Shifting Fog, as it was previously known. Through flashbacks and other POVs, we learn about Grace's time as a maid and ladies maid in the Hartford family household.Many people might find the subject matters of the book as well as those detailed in my review overwhelming. Especially the amount of contact/closeness between the house residents and the working staff at Riverton Manor seemed believable to me and never over the top. Both stories are intricate and I love the way Morton goes back and forth from the past to the present as she weave her characters and the mystery of their lives. I probably would have enjoyed Kate Morton's debut novel The House at Riverton more if I had not already experienced the greater expression of her writing talent in The Forgotten Garden. Hannah, her sister Emmeline and brother David occasionally visit Riverton, owned by their uncle, Lord Ashbury.

I found myself going to bed really early so I could snuggle up in bed, under my duver and lay there in the dark being read too! We know one character leaves a letter to another, but what happened with the gift she also left behind? A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.How much do the restrictions/limitations put on women in this period determine the tragedy of the story? I'm okay with vague, but there needs to be some clarity on what the 'options' are as opposed to just making a statement and never exploring the follow-thru aspects.